


Truth Be Told

by monsterleadmehome



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Agent Ben “pretty eyes” Solo, Alias AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Look at Agent Rey kicking some ass, Slow Burn, Tumblr: reylofanfictionanthology, author tries to get as many Bloodline characters in as possible, i guess?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-22 19:22:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13770852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monsterleadmehome/pseuds/monsterleadmehome
Summary: “Do you even know who you’re working for?” He taunted.She wiped a smear of blood from her lip. “Don’t worry, we’re the good guys.” Spying a workbench nearby, Rey picked up a screwdriver to use as a weapon. This man was relentless.“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”Alias AU: Rey is an agent with SD-6, a secret branch of the CIA. But a chance encounter with the mysterious agent Kylo Ren could send everything she knows crashing to the ground. Could she be working for the very enemy she thought she was fighting?





	1. So It Begins

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pythia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pythia/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this got away from me... 
> 
> Alias is one of my all-time favorite shows, and when I saw this prompt, I had to go for it! I'm not sure what you were looking for when posting the prompt, but I sure did let myself get carried away here. I tried so hard to pack as much as I could into a small one-shot (treats are a minimum of 250 words, haha), but alas... this is going to be a multi-chapter. I'm sorry. Or am I? I blame JJ Abrams for all the great content to work with. Hope you enjoy my nods to the show!

Rey spat onto the cement floor, saliva and blood landing in a garish glob. She had been in worse pain before, and it would take a lot more than the loss of a tooth to make her talk. In fact, she had used the time it took to pull it out to gauge the weakness in the metal chair to which she was currently handcuffed. The creepy little wisp of a man in front of her smiled slightly, his beady little eyes widening behind his glasses. She could not wait to kick his ass.

“Ready to talk yet?”

She put on a pained face and nodded her affirmation. “You got a pen? 

He scrambled on a nearby desk for a scrap of paper and a pen.

“Write this down,” she continued. “E - M - E - T - I - B. Got that?”

He nodded.

“Now reverse it.”

Rey took great pleasure in watching him reverse the letters like it was a puzzle, only to reveal the phrase “Bite me.” Finn was right. Her smart mouth might be the death of her one of these days.

“Why you little bitch!” He lunged at her, but it was too late. 

Rey head butted him, then used all the strength she had to flip herself and the chair over onto his squat body. He was pinned, and the joint holding her cuffs in place easily came free with a twist of her arm. She used her right elbow to knock him out before scavenging the keys from his coat pocket. Once her wrists were free, she gave him a disgusted look. “I’d really like to take one of your teeth for payback, but I don’t have time.” 

She grabbed the artifact he had been questioning her about and fled into the hall.

 

* * *

**36 hours earlier:**

 

Rose Tico walked around the conference table, handing out dossiers. Finn opened his up, took one look at the picture and gave Rey a subtle “not again” face.

The weather beaten face from the video screen gave no indication of noticing the distaste. The director spoke, “Armitage Hux. I know this is a face we’re all familiar with, but recent intel has led us to believe he is tracking down an important Rambaldi artifact. Now we need to recover this item before he gets to it. If the First Order gets this in their possession before SD-6, I don’t need to tell you what a detriment that would be to our country. Agents Rey and Finn will take the lead on this.”

“Yes, Director Snoke,” Rey droned. 

The video screen flickered for a second. “And one more thing… we’ve heard that Hux may or may not have employed the infamous Kylo Ren to help track it down.”

“The rogue agent? I thought he was just a myth,” Finn exclaimed.

“No one has even ever seen him in person,” piped in Rose. 

Rey said nothing, but felt a blossom of excitement in her abdomen. She had heard stories of this Kylo Ren; all the agents had. The rumor was that he had been killed or faked his own death after the Starkiller mission.  

“It’s true that there are no current pictures of him, but we do believe the agent known as Kylo Ren exists and could be connected to this case. That is all.” The video screen went dark.

This would be an interesting mission indeed.

 

*

 

Rey and Finn had tracked Hux to this estate, a tuscan villa in the countryside. It actually hadn’t been that difficult. A blonde wig and a change of accent allowed Rey to stealthily slip a microscopic tracker into his morning tea from the corner cafe, and they followed him here. It certainly looked like the kind of place a purveyor of ancient artifacts might hole up.

The tracker indicated Hux was somewhere within the massive garage to the side of the house. Rey crept along the outer wall while Finn stayed behind to provide cover and if need be, a quick escape. As Rey rounded the corner of the building, she noticed a small window set into the stonework. She carefully peered in to get a better view. She saw Hux and a short man with glasses conversing over what must have been the artifact. It was a wooden box, with carvings on all sides. The top slid open to reveal… she couldn’t tell what. 

Just then a noise from the other end of the estate had both men snapping their heads up in attention. They left together to investigate, the mystery box sitting unguarded on a table. She tried the window and finding it pliant, let herself in. Rey was carefully placing the box inside the high security case she had brought, when a voice behind her said, “I’ll be taking that.”

She whipped around to see who had spoken in such a deep timbre. It sent shivers down her spine. The man, clad all in black, cut an impressive figure. He was tall and foreboding and… _sexy as hell_. The last thought was unintentional, albeit true. Rey had no doubt she was staring into the face of Kylo Ren. Though her mouth had gone dry, she recovered quickly. “I don’t think so.”

“I didn’t want to do this the hard way.” He sounded as if he really meant that. He took a step toward her and went straight for a blow to the head. She blocked the hit easily, but felt how much raw power he packed into a punch. She’d fought men his size before, but something told her this would be harder than anticipated.

They continued exchanging blows in a violent dance, circling each other inside the open garage. She landed a kick to his side that sent him reeling backward before recovering and delivering an elbow to her face. “Do you even know who you’re working for?” He taunted.

She wiped a smear of blood from her lip. “Don’t worry, we’re the good guys.” Spying a workbench nearby, Rey picked up a screwdriver to use as a weapon. This man was relentless.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” He lunged for her again, and she brought the screwdriver up with her left hand, slashing in an upward arc. It caught in his chin and sliced up through his brow bone, missing his eye by centimeters. As he cried out in pain, he knocked into the workbench, scattering the rest of its contents on the floor. Realizing that the commotion would draw attention back to them, he turned and fled, but not before a pressing a scrap of paper into Rey’s palm. Though he wore gloves, she fleetingly felt the heat from his fingers. Then he was gone.

She could now hear Hux and the other man coming back from the opposite end of the garage. Unfortunately, this was also where the artifact lay in the case. Finn was already on the comm in her ear. “We gotta go, Rey. If you don’t have it, just get out of there.”

She huffed in frustration, shoved the scrap of paper into her pocket, and went back the way she had come. When she caught up to Finn, he questioned her with his eyes. She just shook her head no. On the way back she said, “But I know where they’re taking it.”

 

*

 

Rey sat on her couch and looked at the scrap of paper Kylo Ren had given her. The top half contained the coordinates where they’d be taking the artifact. She and Finn were already scheduled to check it out first thing in the morning. The bottom half looked like the address for a storage unit facility. He had cast doubt on the people she worked for. But that was ridiculous, right? Of course SD-6 was part of the CIA. Though, she had never been to Langley… but they were black ops, off the book. No, he was just trying to get in her head. Her thoughts swarmed with the possibilities, and she barely heard her roommate come in.

“Rey, you okay?” 

She snapped out of it. “Poe! You’re home. How was Kuala Lumpur?”

“Ah, basically the same as everywhere else. Fly in, catch a few Z’s, refuel, fly out. I never really get to sightsee much.” Poe Dameron was a world-class pilot, which as it turns out made for a great roommate since he wasn’t home much. Rey rarely had to explain her late nights or early mornings and when they did have time to catch up, they’d often meet Finn for a couple beers.

“Maybe one day.”

“Definitely. Well, I’m heading straight to my room to crash.”

“I don’t blame you. I think I’m going to go for a run.”

She changed into her running clothes and shoes. After a few miles she hailed a cab and asked to be taken to the storage facility from Kylo’s note. She found unit 47 and took out her lock-picking kit. Once inside, there seemed only to be a metal locker tucked into the far corner. It took her several tries, but she managed to crack the combination and open it. The contents of the locker were a manila file folder and a flash drive. She took them both.

It’s crazy how a few small items can change the course of one’s life. Rey locked herself in the bathroom with the shower running so Poe wouldn’t hear her cry. She read through the entire file and watched the video from the flash drive. What unfolded before her eyes was irrefutable proof that Kylo Ren was telling her the truth. SD-6 was not part of the CIA, but rather was a branch of the First Order, a clandestine international organization seeking to undermine world governments and gain the upper-hand. Snoke was implicated heavily in the evidence. She never held any real affection for the director, but he had welcomed her so readily into the fold after she was recruited÷≥Ælp her freshman year of college. It was widely rumored amongst the office that she was his favorite agent. Now she shuddered at the thought. This man had lied to her from the beginning. How was she to finish her mission in the morning, knowing what she knew now?

 

* * *

 

**Now:**

Rey ran down the hall of the facility. She encountered a guard at the end. As he held up his firearm, she jumped and propelled herself off the wall to her right, landing a kick to his jaw and disarming him in one movement, all with the artifact tucked safely under her left arm. She burst out of the nearest door and headed for her rendezvous point with Finn. As they drove away, she looked at the ancient box in her lap. _I don’t want to give this to them_.

She maintained her composure through the halls of the SD-6 field office. She realized she must look a little crazy with the red wig from her disguise still on and her jaw swollen from the tooth extraction.She sauntered right into Director Snoke’s office and slammed the box onto his desk. He looked up, startled. “Good work, Rey,” he praised her.

“I’m taking a few days off,” she replied and walked back out.

Rey took the time to pop a pain killer, but then headed straight to the closest CIA field office. She thought of Finn, Rose, and her other colleagues who were also unaware that they were traitors to their country. It left her only one choice. The woman behind the front desk eyed her warily as she approached. “I need to speak with the director.”

“Director Organa isn’t in today, but I can set you up with one of the agents in office.”

“Fine. It’s important…” she hesitated, but added, “It’s about SD-6.”

The woman’s green eyes widened and she sounded a little more somber. “Wait here; I’ll be right back.”

Rey was given a guest pass and ushered into a small office towards the back of the building. “Agent Solo will be with you in a minute.”

She took a seat opposite the plain pine desk, adorned with a simple nameplate. “Agent Ben Solo,” it read.

The door opened and Rey whipped her head around, “You!”

“I heard ‘SD-6' and had a feeling it would be you.” He smirked, pulling at the cut she had given him the previous day. It was sealed with liquid bandage, but she could tell it was going to leave a scar.

“ _You’re_ CIA? But, how… I thought you were-“

“Kylo Ren?” He cut her off. “I used to be. It’s a long story I hope to be able to tell you someday. Suffice it to say I was working undercover for Hux, trying to smuggle the artifact out from under him… until you showed up, that is.”

“I’m sorry,” she quickly offered. “For ruining your mission, and for… that.” She gestured to his face.

“This? It’s nothing.” He waved it off. “I was actually glad you appeared. That’s why I led you to the storage unit. I knew your curiosity would win out.” 

“But you didn’t get the artifact… I guess I don’t understand.”

“Rey, we could use someone else inside SD-6. Do you know how much hell you’ve given our agents in the past couple years? You could be a real asset in the war to take down the First Order.” 

Rey nodded. It wouldn’t be easy, but she had to do it for Finn. He was her partner and he’d been betrayed as well. “Wait, someone _else_?”

Agent Solo nodded. “We have one double agent already inside, but two would be better.” He leaned against the desk, the wheels in his head clearly turning. Dressed in a simple suit, he looked much less foreboding than the day before, but still commanded authority.

She stood. “Okay, I’m in.”

He stood as well. “Great.”

This close, Rey had to look up to make eye contact with him. His eyes were a deep ocher, locking on to hers with an intensity she was not used to. _Careful_ , she cautioned herself. She cleared her throat and turned from him.

“I’ll be in touch to go over procedure and your new assignment. In the meantime, you’ll want to get debriefed and granted clearance.” He briefly touched the small of her back as he led her out of the office. 

_What have I gotten myself into?_ Rey wondered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, who is our other double agent? Stay tuned to find out!


	2. Parity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to everyone who has read and commented/left kudos on this fic so far! I am blown away by the response.
> 
> And once again, thanks to [pythia](http://archiveofourown.org/users/pythia) for the prompt!

The debrief took longer than expected. Rey’s hand was cramping up from all the writing she’d done. The yellow legal pad Agent Solo had given her was nearly half full. She tried not to leave out anything that she knew about SD-6. Her jaw was starting to hurt again. 

The door to the conference room opened slowly and a different agent walked in. He was older than Ben, with close cropped dark hair, a full beard, rounder body and kind eyes. “Thought you might want some coffee.”

Rey took the proffered styrofoam cup. “Thanks, Agent…”

“Wexley. Snap Wexley.”

“Snap… that’s an interesting name.”

“It’s a nickname, but everyone here calls me Wexley.” 

She took a sip from the cup. “This coffee is _good_.”

“Yeah, Solo’s a bit of a coffee snob. Pouted to the director until they stocked the good kind. Guess it helps to have connections.” He shrugged but didn’t elaborate. “Hey, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s with the accent?”

“Oh, well I was born in the States, but my parents both died when I was very young, so I was shipped off to my uncle in London. Once I was old enough to leave, I came back to finish my education here. Never shook the accent though.” 

“And you were recruited your freshman year?”

She nodded.

“Wow. You just… must be really good at what you do. Anyway, if you need anything else, let me know.”

“Will do.”

Rey had finished up her handwritten report and was finishing the last of the coffee when Ben Solo came back. She handed him the notepad.

“You wrote a lot.”

“I know.”

“I mean, it’s like Tolstoy long.”

Despite her ridiculous day, Rey laughed just a little bit. He smirked. “Am I free to go then, Agent Solo?”

“It’s Ben. And yes, we’ll be in touch.” As he watched her walk out, Wexley elbowed him in the ribs. “What was that for?”

The older agent gave him a look. “I smell trouble with you and that one.”

Ben rolled his eyes. 

 

* * *

 

She hadn’t given Snoke a timeframe of when she’d be back. She rarely took time off, and she really just needed to think for a bit. He’d always been eerily understanding in the past. Up until this past spring, she had been balancing work with school. It was grueling, and Rey was still unsure of how she had managed to pull it off, but she had graduated with her B.A. in English Literature. She didn’t remember much of her parents, but she knew they were teachers, and it inspired her to keep going even once she started working for SD-6.

It was this love of literature that drove Rey to visit her favorite local bookstore, hoping to find some peace of mind. When she needed a quiet moment, she would come to this place, poring over old tomes, hoping some of the wisdom they contained would rub off. However, this time, she couldn’t help but note the tingling sensation down her spine. She was being watched. She scooped a mass of her chestnut hair over to one side as she craned her neck around to identify the culprit. There was a man by the self-help section who looked oddly out of place. She smiled at the old woman beside her and placed the early edition of _Jane Eyre_ back on the shelf. 

Rey kept her eyes forward as she walked out of the store and immediately turned left toward the main road. The man followed her. Picking up the pace, she eyed every possible alley for alternate routes, just in case. As she reached the road, a hunter green SUV pulled up.

“Rey! Get in.”

She couldn’t process the man in the driver’s seat. “ _Professor Skywalker?!_ What are you-?” She didn’t have time to finish her sentence as the man behind her had pulled a gun and fired a warning shot.

“Do you want to stand there and get shot or are you getting in?” 

Rey didn’t need any further coaxing and hopped in the car. Utterly flummoxed, she stared at her former professor with her jaw hanging open. He looked older than she remembered, his scraggly beard shot through with gray.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”

Her senses slowly coming back, she asked, “Did you fail me on that Spanish Inquisition paper on purpose?”

Unfazed, he replied, “I didn’t fail you. You got an extension and pulled a B out of your ass.”

“I needed an extension because I got my arm broken in Malaysia.”

“I know. I told Snoke to send someone else on that mission, but you know he doesn’t listen to anyone.”

She glared at him. “You’re the other agent, aren’t you? Are you even a real professor?”

“Ah, here come the questions,” he was getting on the freeway, speeding though there was no evidence they were being followed. “Yes, I am a real professor. At least, I used to be. And yes, I’m the other double agent at SD-6. I believe Be- _Agent Solo_ told you there was already someone inside.”

Luke Skywalker was the hardest professor Rey had during her time at university. He wound up becoming one of her favorites. His take-no-shit attitude was what endeared him to her in the end. She got one of the top grades in his history class and took no small amount of pride in it. It must be a testament to his skill as an agent that she never once caught on that he was more than just an curmudgeonly teacher with a heart of gold. “Why haven’t I seen you in the office before?”

“I’ve been on a long term mission out of another office, but I do mostly high-level ops. Top security clearance, that kind of thing.” It wasn’t meant to be a brag, but Rey was nonetheless impressed.

He turned off on the exit for the airfield, and she ask, “Where are we going?”

Luke handed her a ticket. “If you want, Singapore. Then who knows where else? That guy back there was SD-6 asset control. They suspect you may be compromised. Now, I know how to wrangle you out of this mess, but I wanted to give you an out.”

The gesture touched Rey. “I’m too invested now; I can’t just run away.”

He pulled into a parking spot. “Are you sure, Rey? You were always my favorite student. I just want you to know what you’re getting into. Snoke may see you as essential for now, but he will not hesitate to eliminate you if you step out of bounds.” 

Rey looked at the ticket in her hand.

 

* * *

 

When Rey was told she would be given a handler, she assumed it would be a senior agent. Someone older with gray hair maybe. She had not anticipated being cramped in a fake bloodmobile with Agent Ben Solo, alias Kylo Ren. She also did not count on his condescending attitude.

She huffed in exasperation. “You said you wanted to talk about the plan. I'm giving you the plan.”

“It's not your job to give me the plan. I'm giving _you_ the plan. Tomorrow's your first day back at SD-6. Now, nothing should change. When you get your assignment, you'll detail your mission on a paper bag.” He proceeded to pick up a paper bag and show her. “Then you'll call this number. Memorize it.”

She took the card from him, glanced at it, and handed it back.

“I said memorize it.”

“I did.”

A brief bob of his Adam’s apple followed. "After three tones, press the appropriate digit - one through six. Each corresponds to a trash can in a specific location. Now we'll review your information, create a counter-mission, and we'll contact you posing as a wrong number: Joey's Pizza. Any questions so far?”

“Yeah. Can you show me what a bag looks like again?” She could feel his frustration coming off in waves, but she didn’t care. She had been doing this for several years and didn’t need to be coddled, especially by someone who couldn’t be more than ten years her senior.

He took a deep breath like he was centering himself. “Rey, I have a feeling you’re treating this like an in and out mission. This is the long game.” He took a sheet of paper off the counter and handed it to her. “Show me what you think the scope of SD-6 is.”

Sighing, she grabbed the paper and a nearby pen and drew a simple map: SD-6, the First Order, and a few other cells she was aware of. She showed him.

Ben stood up and pulled a chart down from the ceiling of the mobile unit. It showed a vast network of cells all connecting back to the First Order. There were units and names she hadn’t heard of, and some she had, but the way it spidered out with all the different branches left her speechless. “This isn’t about cutting off an arm of the monster. This is about killing the monster. I just want to make sure you get that. I’m in this for the long haul… are you?”

She gulped and felt a deeper weight to his words. “Yeah. I’m in. So that’s all?”

He nodded, and she got up to leave. “Oh, wait.” He grabbed her arm gently, and her eyes widened. His hands were so warm. “I almost forgot.” He took out a smiley face bandage and applied it to the crease of her arm. “Now you’re all set.”

 

* * *

 

“Milo Rambaldi, 15th century genius, part Nostradamus, part da Vinci, yada yada, you guys know the drill…” Rose was extra effervescent this morning, describing the contents of the box Rey had rescued. “But binary code? Never in a million years would I have guessed that.” Snoke interrupted from the video feed by clearing his hideous throat. “Right. Anyway, the binary code revealed two things: the words ‘Sol D’oro,’ or Golden Sun and the location of a church in Malaga, Spain.”

Snoke interjected, “So that’s where you will be going, Finn and Rey. Though I should warn you that K-Directorate has also gotten their hands on this intel.”

“Phasma,” Rey intoned. 

“I’m afraid so.”

“You’ve kicked her ass before,” Finn offered.

“Doesn’t mean I enjoy it.”

Phasma was a former MI-6 agent who defected and now worked for K-Directorate, an underground Russian agency made up of mostly KGB leftovers. She was a beast of a woman and had bested Rey on more than one occasion. Though to say Rey hadn’t returned the favor just as many times would be an injustice. It was one of Rey’s great sorrows that she had not seen the statuesque blonde locked up yet.

As they walked out the conference room, Finn caught her attention. “Hey are you doing okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“You just seem a little off. I was hoping a couple days away from here would be good for you.”

“It _was_ nice to have some time to myself.” She smiled at her partner. She hated lying to him, but knew it was for the best right now. _The long game, remember?_

He smiled back. “Good. Well, you know if you need anything, I’m here.”

 

*

 

Rey strolled down the cereal isle of the grocery store. She stopped to examine a box of Lucky Charms. 

“I’ve always been more of a Fruit Loops guy myself.”

“That seems… accurate.” She didn’t look at Ben, but she smirked. He stood within listening distance, but far enough away to be simply another shopper. “What’s the counter mission?”

“We don’t know enough about the Sol D’oro to fabricate a replica. You’re going to retrieve it and hand it over to SD-6. We’ll get the full details from your report when it’s over.”

“You’re kidding. You want me to just hand it to them?”

“Yes. Look, it’s too soon to start sabotaging every little thing. Your cover is of the utmost importance right now.”

Rey scowled, but she agreed. “Okay then.”

“By the way,” he risked a quick glance her way, and she noticed a spark in his tawny eyes. “If you run into Phasma, give her hell for me.”

 

* * *

 

**Malaga:**

Rey stepped inside the old church and gave a quick survey of the surroundings. This mission required stealth, not deception; and so she was dressed all in black, no clever disguises. There was no one else inside, though the candles at the front were lit. She looked around for anything that might be the Golden Sun. The church was beautiful, high ceilings sweeping up into the heavens. Then she saw it - a stained glass depiction above the altar of a sun shining down on the land. She found a chair in the corner and used it to stand on to reach the image. She gingerly touched the disc in the center and found it able to rotate. She shifted it right then left until it broke free from the rest of the scene. 

As she stepped down from the chair, she didn’t look behind her. So when an arm wrapped around her neck, Rey was stunned. Phasma grabbed the disc from her, but it dropped and went rolling beneath the pews. “Miss me?” she taunted. 

Rey jumped up, using the chair she was just on for leverage as she backflipped over Phasma, breaking her chokehold. She landed on her feet. “Hardly,” she spat as she kicked the woman in the abdomen, sending her backwards. She quickly recovered and retaliated with a right hook to Rey’s face. Rey grunted and ducked under the woman’s next blow, sweeping her leg out from underneath her. Phasma went down hard, but arched right back up, brandishing a small but deadly looking knife from her sleeve. She slashed at Rey’s face and the smaller agent bent backwards to avoid being cut. Rey caught her arm and forced it over a lit candle until the heat made Phasma open her hand up, the knife clattering to the stone floor. Taking advantage of the open wrist at her disposal, Rey grabbed the handcuffs from her back pocket and fastened Phasma to the heavy table that held the prayer candles. 

Phasma yanked her arm several times, but it was futile. The table wasn’t moving, and neither was she. Rey grabbed the Sol D’oro from underneath the pew and tucked it in her jacket. She gave Phasma a cheeky wink before leaving the church.

 

*

 

Rose had a close up of the yellow disc on the screen in front of them. “It may look like glass, but it’s actually a synthetic polymer.” 

“From before synthetic polymers existed,” Finn mused.

“Right. However, we don’t know what its purpose is yet. There’s still some diagnostics being run.”

“In the meantime, we have a new issue.” Snoke was sitting in the conference room with them today instead of projecting in via video. Rey kept a tight lid on her disgust. “This man,” a new image popped up on the screen of a distinguished blonde man with a mustache, “Jeroen Schiller, with the Hensel Corporation, has reached out regarding a vaccine for biological warfare. Rey and Finn, you’re being tasked with going to Berlin and giving him safe passage to the US so we can study the vaccine.”

An easy enough assignment. Rey nodded her head. Snoke continued, “Also, I’ve joined you today to introduce the man who will be running point on this mission. Rey, you already know my old friend, Luke Skywalker.”

Luke walked into the room and gave a curt nod to Snoke. He looked better than when she had seen him last. He had trimmed his beard and gotten a haircut. The navy suit he was wearing complemented his features well. Rose went wide-eyed. Finn rose from his seat. “Agent Skywalker, the legend. I’ve read all your old case files. Well, the ones I have clearance for. It’s an honor, sir.”

The older man shook his hand but didn’t acknowledge the compliment. Snoke ignored the exchange. “Luke has finished his most recent mission and will be joining us here to take a more hands-on leadership role.”

“Good,” Rey offered him a tight-lipped smile.

Luke looked to her then back to her partner. “Agents Finn, Rey. I suggest you both get a good night’s rest. You’ll be leaving first thing in the morning for Berlin.”

 

*

 

Rey plopped her bag on the couch. She kicked off her heels and padded into the kitchen, looking for something to snack on. She had just opened the fridge when the phone rang. When Poe moved in, he had given her grief about still owning a landline, but it was a requirement for work. Her cover job of working for a bank had a lot of strange rules Poe didn’t seem to question. 

The pilot was coming down the hall from his room and beat Rey to the receiver. “Hello?” he paused. “Nope, I’m sorry, you’ve got the wrong number.”

Turning around, Rey asked, “Who was that?”

“Just some guy looking for Joey’s Pizza… speaking of pizza, you wanna order one?”

“Maybe in a bit. I forgot I have an errand to run.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we got Wexley as Weiss! I mean, I had to, seeing as they're both Greg Grunberg. :)
> 
> And Phasma making an appearance as Anna Espinosa... that character was too good not to include. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of her.
> 
> And of course, our other double agent, Luke Skywalker. 
> 
> I am having so much fun writing this fic! Hope you guys are enjoying it as well. Please comment/leave kudos if you are! And don't forget to subscribe/follow me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/monsterleadmehome) so you'll be in the know for chapter updates!


	3. Doppleganger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter was a labor of love. I actually stuck pretty close to the episode this chapter is named after in terms of plot (and some dialogue too), but there's some really important character development in this one, so I hope it paid off!

 

Rey eyed Ben warily. He looked tired, but his cut was healing nicely; the scar would be barely visible. If anything, it only added intrigue to his already striking face. However, that face was currently pulled into a scowl and did not look happy to see her. “What’s wrong — you have a fight with your wife?”

“My what?” he looked perplexed that she would ask him that question. 

“The picture from your desk, you and the very attractive woman? I just thought…”

“No, she and I are not remotely married. That’s my cousin, Greer. I mean, we’re not really related but she’s an old family friend.”

“Oh,” Rey mused.

“Wait… you thought I was married this whole time?” he sounded off-put by this, and Rey was unsure why.

“I mean, does it really matter?” The way he was looking at her made her think for a second maybe it did, and she felt a flutter in her chest.

Recovering quickly, he swallowed and said, “No, I guess not. For the record, though, I am not married nor do I have a girlfriend. I had a _disagreement_ with my mother, actually.”

_Ah, so that explains the foul mood,_ Rey thought _._ “Ah, I see.”

“She and I just don’t always see eye to eye… But that’s not why we’re here. I want to give you your counter-mission.” He explained the plan in detail.

“So we’re going to take the real Schiller and hand SD-6 a fake?” 

“Yes, Agent Casterfo is all set to go in his stead. The existing pictures of Schiller are outdated and he is enough of a match that they won’t be able to tell.”

“How am I supposed to make a double switch invisible to my partner? He'll be there.”

“You _cannot_ tell him the truth. I mean, he might already know who he's working for.”

“No, I know Finn. He’s a good man. He doesn’t know the truth.”

Ben’s mouth tightened into a line. “Be that as it may, we can’t risk telling him anything right now. You can’t force being a double on someone who isn’t ready.”

“Fine.” 

“Look, I know you’re used to doing things your way; but this, taking down SD-6, is only going to work if you learn to trust me.”

Rey guessed it was her default to not trust other people. She trusted Snoke and look where that got her. “Okay,” she said at last. “I’ll try.”

*

On the plane to Berlin, Rey had been planning to sleep. Her brain however, had other plans. She went over the mission in her head again for the hundredth time.

“You’ll be posing as a network supervisor when you arrive at Hensel Corporation. Once you get to Schiller’s office, you just pop this little baby in,” Rose had held up a device that looked like an SD card, “and _boom_ — unfettered access to the whole database. He will upload the formula to our secure remote server, then you’ll head out the back exit where—”

“I’ll be waiting with the van to take you both back,” Finn finished.

_And in between, I’ll make the switch, Schiller for Agent Casterfo._ Easy peasy.

 

**Berlin:**

Once they arrived in Germany, Rey wasted no time changing into her disguise. Tech careers weren’t known for their glamour, so the outfit was simple enough. Professional looking suit, blonde bob wig, sleek black glasses, and name badge reading “Greta Fuchs.” 

The Hensel Corporation was housed in a white, sterile office building with a parking garage below. Finn dropped her off a block away. Rey strode inside the building and told them who she was in perfect German. She always had an affinity for languages. She spoke six different ones even before being recruited, but now she was fluent in twelve and passable in nearly twenty. The bored looking receptionist ushered her in through the building’s security and she headed for Schiller’s office.

Jeroen Schiller was a bit older than the picture they were given. He still wore his short sandy hair in a distinguished style and had a mustache but he had aged several years. He wore wire rimmed glasses and his blue eyes behind seemed anxious. 

“Herr Schiller, I’m Rey.” She handed him the SD card, which he promptly shoved into his computer. She rounded his desk to watch the progress of the formula upload. Once it was complete, she motioned for him to come with her. She contacted Finn to say, “I think I’m being followed. Change the pickup location to Koenig Strasse.”

“Copy that,” came the response.

She and Schiller rushed down to the parking structure beneath the building, where the CIA team was waiting. They loaded the real Schiller into the van. Rey spotted a blonde man around Schiller’s age, waiting with the same glasses on. He bore a good resemblance. “Agent Casterfo, I presume.”

“You must be Rey.”

“How’s your German?”

“ _Sehr gut,_ ” he answered with a passing accent and a wink.

“Okay, let’s do this.” She grabbed his arm and they headed out to Koenig Strasse to meet Finn. He pulled up and Rey waited for the fake Schiller to enter the van first, keeping a way eye on their surroundings as she closed the door behind them.

 

* * *

 

Rey came home to the most delicious smell. Poe was in the kitchen cooking dinner. She rolled her suitcase into the foyer and called out, “Oh my god, that smells _amazing_. What are you making?”

“Paella. I just got back from Spain and had a craving. No one around here makes it as good as I do.” He smiled cheekily at her from his spot in front of the stove. He was actually wearing an apron. “How was your trip?"

“Good. I’m assuming you’ve got enough for me?”

“Of course! It’s impossible to make paella for one. Hey, I was thinking, I’m actually going to have a lot leftover… Do you want to see if Finn’s free for dinner?”

“Yeah, that sounds great! Let me call him now.” Rey had a hard time trying to gauge if Poe was just the most charismatic guy she’d ever met, or if he actually had a crush on Finn. Regardless, she was happy that they got along so well. _Maybe one day I’ll be able to invite Ben to join us, too_. It was hard to imagine her different worlds colliding like that, but the thought of Ben Solo in her home brought a little smile to her face.

Finn happened to have no dinner plans and was at their place in less than thirty minutes. Before they all ate, he pulled Rey aside. “We’ve been partners for nearly four years now. I trust you with my life.”

“And I trust you. What’s going on?”

“Snoke is asking about Berlin. He thinks someone might have gotten to Schiller. He thinks he might be a plant. He wanted to know why you had me change the pick up to Koenig Strasse.”

“I told you I thought I was being followed.” Rey asserted herself in this. She couldn’t risk Finn finding out the truth.

“Rey, is there something I should know?”

“No.”

“Okay then. I believe you.”

“What’s going to happen to Schiller?”

“Snoke wants the location of the plant where they have the prototype for the vaccine inhaler. The man knows where it is; I don’t know why he isn’t giving it up. If he doesn’t answer soon, I’m afraid he’s in trouble.”

Rey nodded.

Finn reached out and touched her arm, “But Rey, so are you.”

Rey tried her best to enjoy the evening with her two friends. The paella was delicious, which wasn’t a surprise as Poe had proven himself to be a more than capable chef. She only allowed herself one glass of red wine though, and had to fake some of her laughter. Her mind kept drifting back to Agent Casterfo’s fate.

After everyone had their fill and Poe finished regaling Finn with stories of Spain, Rey walked him to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Finn nodded and took his leave.

Poe had just finished loading the dishwasher and turned around to find Rey putting on her sneakers. “You gonna go for a run?”

“I don’t think I could handle running right now, but I think a good walk is in order. Do you need my help with anything?"

“No, I’ve got this. You go.”

“You’re the best.” She gave him a wink and left. 

*

When Rey got to the safe house where they were keeping the asset, she could tell by Ben’s frustrated expression that something was wrong. She could see him on the other side of the two-way glass, talking to Schiller.

“No, I will only talk to Snoke.” His accent made “will” sound like “vill.”

“Snoke is a liar and a fraud. I can assure you he has nothing to do with the CIA.” Ben ran a hand through his dark hair. 

“How do I know that is is not you who is the fraud?”

Ben looked exasperated, but conceded, “You don’t. But you will.” He barged back into the room and asked Wexley, “Hey, how soon could we get a plane to Langley?” Then, seeing Rey, he acknowledged her with a quick “Hey.”

“I can call—” Wexley started to say, but Rey interrupted.

“Casterfo might be dead by then.”

“What?” Ben looked at her incredulously.

“Apparently Snoke wants the inhaler prototype as well, and unless he tells him where the plant is located… I mean not only is his life in danger, but it would blow my cover as well.”

“Right, uh…” Ben had both hands in his hair now and turned in a circle, clearly thinking through their options.

From the other side of the room, a woman said, “Agent Solo, we’re in.” Rey hadn’t even realized she was sitting there. Agent Connix, she thought the her name was.

“What’s that?” Rey said, looking over the other agent’s shoulder. She was sitting at a computer with a bunch of code on the screen. 

Wexley replied, “We had Casterfo supply Snoke with just enough information to look like it was the real site with the formula while simultaneously loading a program to their system, giving us a backdoor to the database.”

“So we have access to their whole system?” Rey asked.

“Yes. It’s a huge step in bringing SD-6 down,” Ben said.

“It was all Solo’s idea,” Wexley offered.

“Brilliant idea,” Rey flashed him a smile. 

“Don’t look so surprised,” he opined, the edges of a grin playing at his mouth.

“In the meantime, let me talk to Schiller. I can get him to reveal the location of the plant.”

Rey entered the room and sat down across from the man. Ben couldn’t hear what she was saying as they had turned off the intercom, but her impassioned plea seemed to work. He shrugged and said something, then Rey clasped his hand in hers with gratitude.

*

It was with much trepidation that Rey had reached out to Luke. She watched his green SUV pull up to the curb. “Snoke’s got Casterfo in interrogation. If he doesn’t give up the location of the plant, he’s gonna kill him.”

“I know, he just called me after you did.”

“For what?”

“Sometimes he calls me in for _help_ when a situation gets out of hand.” There was an edge to Luke’s voice, and Rey realized just how little she actually knew her former professor.

“Well, I can’t go in there because I’m under suspicion right now; but I have the intel. Snoke trusts you. You have to help.”

“Okay.”

“The plant is in Badenweiler.”

Rey watched him drive away, hoping it wasn’t too late.

 

* * *

 

Luke walked into Snoke’s office with an air of authority. “You called?”

“I need your expertise in helping convince Schiller to give up the location of the plant. You think you can handle it, or are you out of practice?” It was a challenge.

“I’ll take care of it.”

The fake Schiller was bound in an interrogation room within the bowels of the SD-6 office. Luke had a certain reputation as an agent all these years, but sometimes he didn’t like the things he had to do to maintain his cover. Especially hurting a colleague. He undid the restraints and ripped Casterfo out of the chair. Before the man could register his shock, Luke struck him across the face with his mechanical hand. It was a top of the line model, paid for by the US government. Made of carbon fiber and aluminum alloy, it was aerodynamic and light, but still hurt like hell. He got the man into an angle facing away from the camera and whispered, “I’m sorry, I have to make this look real. Your cover is at risk. In a minute, you’ll yell out the location of the plant: Badenweiler.”

He asked loudly for the surveillance feed, “I won’t ask again. Tell me the location of the plant!”

Luke spun Casterfo around again and pulled his arm at an unnatural angle behind his back. Over the loud snap of bone breaking, he yelled, “Badenweiler! The plant is in Badenweiler.”

Snoke sat back in his office chair, smiling at the feed. He could count on his old friend Luke Skywalker to come through in a pinch.

*

When the team met the next morning for the specs on their mission to Badenweiler, Snoke pulled Rey aside. “It was not my intention to cast any aspersions your way, Agent. I hope there are no hard feelings.”

She felt the bile rise in her throat, but managed a sweet smile. “None at all, Director.”

The plan was to procure the vaccine inhaler from the plant and then blow the whole thing to the ground, so no one else would have access to the prototype. It was a simple enough plan.

If sitting through meetings with the man she hated most in the world was the worst part of Rey’s day, then it could also be said that what those meetings inevitably led to was becoming one of the best. For once, the designated meeting spot allowed her to look directly at Ben and those pretty eyes of his. She peered at him from behind the pump at the gas station. “He practically apologized.”

“Snoke did?”

“For thinking maybe I'd mailed him the wrong guy. Imagine that.”

“Hmph.” His eyes hardened a little. “So listen, we’re sending a team to Badenweiler as well. You’ll rendezvous with them before Finn gets in the building, grab the vaccine and leave as planned. Then when you guys go to set off the bomb, our frequency jammer will prevent it from going off so the team can finish collecting evidence.”

“By that time, security will already be on the way, so we’ll have to leave anyway.”

“Exactly. Our team will pack up, head out, and we’re done.”

“How’s Agent Casterfo?”

“At home, arm in a cast. He’ll be fine thanks to you.”

 

**Badenweiler:**

Rey idly thought there was too much green here. The plant was located in the middle of a field with high grass that lay right on the edge of a forest. The structure itself stood out like a sore thumb, all sharp angles and bright lights. Finn was off readying the explosives while she headed to the lab to grab the vaccine and secretly meet the CIA team. She met them in a hallway on the first floor. There were four in total, three men and a woman.

The leader, a man of average height and build with light brown hair, broke the silence. “You must be Rey.”

She nodded in confirmation and handed him one of the inhalers. He handed it to the female agent, who tucked it into a case.

“Agent Solo’s told me a lot about you. He respects you.”

She felt herself flush at the secondhand compliment. “The feeling is mutual. He’s a good man.”

“It’s a nice scar you gave him too,” he chuckled. “Adds character.”

Now Rey really was turning red. “Well, that was before… But I don’t disagree.”

“Right, well give us a few minutes to finish up here and we’ll be out of your hair.” He motioned to his team and they followed him further down the hall and into one of the rooms.

She radioed Finn, “Where are you?”

“Second floor.”

“Be right there.”

Once safely out of the building, Rey and Finn took shelter in the high grass at the edge of the forest. He produced the detonator from his pack and pressed the button. As planned, nothing happened. He pressed it again.

“It’s not working; let’s get out of here before security arrives,” Rey urged.

“Hang on,” Finn said. “I was worried that this might happen after that debacle in Budapest so I brought a secondary detonator.” He scrounged around in his pack and grabbed the bulky looking piece of equipment.

Rey could only watch in horror as he pressed the button and the plant exploded in a giant fireball. Her eyes began to well up, partly from the brightness of the fire, but also from the tears that very much threatened to spill out and divulge her secret. She vaguely felt Finn pulling her arm and reluctantly ran with him into the woods, where their transportation was waiting.

 

* * *

 

Rey sidled up to the pier and rested her elbows on the railing. It was nighttime, and the ferris wheel provided a backdrop of changing colors, the cacophony of strangers enjoying their evening a distant soundtrack. “Thanks for coming. I didn’t know who else to call.”

Ben stood against the pier as well, looking out to the ocean. You could fit another person between them, but they were near enough to talk at a hushed volume. He looked at her and saw the emotion swirling behind her eyes. _Maybe Wexley was right about this being trouble,_ he thought.

“I just don’t know what I’m doing anymore or why I’m doing it. I think Finn is starting to doubt me, and those agents that died today… they were good people.” A tear rolled down her cheek and Ben desperately wished he could wipe it away. “I’m starting to feel like this is never going to end, and I might lose myself in the process.”

“Look, I know from experience this job can bring out the worst in yourself. But no matter how bleak it gets, you can’t let the darkness overtake you. You have to find that light within, the reason to keep fighting. I knew from the moment we met, when you slashed my face open,” he paused and smiled, catching her eye, “…that you were a fighter.”

She slowly nodded. “I’ve just never felt so alone.”

“You’re not alone.” He caught her gaze, and Rey knew all at once that she did trust this man.

“Neither are you.” She reached out and covered his hand with hers, giving it a slight squeeze. 

Ben looked down at where her hand was clasped with his. _Definitely trouble_ , he thought. He swallowed and looked back out to the sea. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I absolutely loved _Bloodline_ by Claudia Gray (which you should check out if you haven't read it), so I had to include a couple characters in this AU.
> 
> [Ransolm Casterfo](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ransolm_Casterfo) \- I loved his character, but lbh he totally deserved that broken arm for what he did to Leia (and subsequently Ben).
> 
> [Greer Sonnel](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Greer_Sonnel) \- in this AU she is a close friend of the Organa-Solo family and Ben would see her as a sorta cousin.
> 
> In the light of all the Reylo news this week, I just had to include the bit about Ben's "pretty eyes!" I hope you enjoyed that part.
> 
> As always, your comments and kudos help me to write! Please comment/share if you like the story, and feel free to follow me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/monsterleadmehome) to stay in the know!


	4. Time Will Tell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the super long wait! I was on a mission to finish my post-TLJ fic, and then life got in the way...
> 
> I do know exactly where this story is going and how it's going to end, it's just the writing it down part that suffers. Anyway, here's the new chapter. Let me know what you think in the comments! <3

**Bucharest:**

The pain ripped through Rey’s leg as she propelled herself faster down the concrete hall. She thought she may have pulled something, but it wouldn’t matter much if the K-Directorate agent caught up with her. She had spent the past few days undercover in this asylum and now her cover was blown. She’d missed her call in to both SD-6 and the CIA. To make matters worse, the contact she had been here for was now dead. She thought darkly if she didn’t make it out of here, she’d never get to see Ben again. _Not the time_ , she chided herself as she rounded the corner and collided with an outstretched nightstick. She was knocked out cold. 

“Take her to the ECT room,” said a man with a brusque Russian accent.

When Rey awoke she was in a tub of water with electrodes affixed to her head. _Electroshock therapy_. In low doses, the mild shock could be used to treat certain conditions, with disputed efficacy. However as Rey watched the man turn the dial to the red, she didn’t think that’s what he had in mind.

“We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way, you pretty little thing.”

“Oh I’m in a bit of a mood today, so how about we make it hard?” She grinned at him as she felt the first shock go through her body.

 

*

 

“This is unacceptable — we have to get a team to Bucharest now!”

“And risk blowing Rey’s cover with SD-6? Out of the question!”

“Rey’s life is worth the risk!” Ben was fuming. Sometimes he really hated working with family, but Luke was the only one in a position to do anything about the situation.

“Not to Rey! Taking them down is what gets her up in the morning. Or... did you think it was those meetings she has with you?”

Ben kicked the nearest object, which happened to be a metal trash can. It made a satisfying crashing noise, spilling its contents out onto the warehouse floor. _It’s like the man can read minds_. “That’s not fair. She’s _my_ agent, of course I’m concerned. I’m her handler.”

Luke smirked at his nephew. “Be that as it may, it’s too soon to send in the cavalry. We don’t know that she’s in any real danger yet,” he held a hand up as he saw Ben open his mouth, “Let’s give her a chance, huh? You do think she’s capable, at least?”

“Of course I think she’s capable!”

“Then let her work her own way out. If we don’t hear anything back by tonight, I’ll have Snoke send someone in to get her out. No need to risk exposure.”

Ben let out the breath he had been holding. “Okay,” he relented. Of course Luke was right. He had let his emotions get the better of him again. He clenched his fists at his sides and kept them that way till he reached his car. _Rey, where are you?_

 

* * *

**Bucharest:**

 

Leaves clung to Rey’s bare feet as she stumbled through the forest. _I know it’s around here, somewhere_. She wiped a smear of blood off her lip. It was probably the least of her injuries, but it was the one giving her the most issues at the moment. The dried blood from the cut above her eyebrow wasn’t a hinderance so she kept going, limping slightly.

It hadn’t been easy overpowering the K-Directorate agents. After the second shock in the tub, she knew she had to act quickly or she’d likely die there. As the man charged the machine again, she motioned for him to come closer and she would talk. For some providential reason, he actually fell for it and she head-butted him before yanking off her electrodes and sticking it to his face. The other agent in the room had landed the blow to her face before she brought him down. Charging the machine, she left after yelling, “How do _you_ like it?” to her tormentor. Her mouth and leg injury had come courtesy of the guards on the way out.

She’d had worse. The terrain evened out slightly and Rey knew she was getting close to the SD-6 safe house. She followed the downward slope of the ground, avoiding tree roots and finally the small cabin came into view. A sigh of relief left her bloody lips as she went inside to radio for assistance. She couldn’t wait to take a long bubble bath once she got home.

 

*

 

Everyone had welcomed her back with applause and praise. She had even garnered a smile from Snoke, which was unsettling, to say the least. Luke nodded an appraisal as he took part in the briefing. She had her new mission: to go to Oxford to retrieve a clock made by Rambaldi, but Rey could hardly concentrate on the new gadgets Rose was introducing. She had one person on her mind that she was looking forward to seeing later.

They met in a parking garage, so she’d be able to see him face to face. Ben practically lit up when she came into view. She closed the distance between them, and he brought his arm up awkwardly, before giving a brief pat to her shoulder and letting it fall. “I’m so glad you made it back safe and sound. I bet Luke told you I was ready to send in a rescue team.”

Luke _hadn’t_ told her that. “Uh, he didn’t; but thanks for the vote of confidence.” It was her natural reaction, not being accepted as a woman in the field. But secretly, she relished his concern. 

“Rey, I was worried about you.” The emotion she saw in his eyes made her stomach flutter.

“Well, I took care of it.”

He smiled. “I know. I’d hate to see the other guys.”

Rey smiled back in spite of herself. She was usually really good at keeping her feelings in check, but something about Ben Solo was wearing down her normally strong defenses. “You would.” She told him about her morning meeting, then asked, “So, what’s my counter-mission?”

“There isn’t one, technically. You get the clock and bring it back to SD-6. It doesn’t actually work anymore, so there will likely be more to go on after you retrieve it.”

“Oh. Okay… then I guess I didn’t actually have to come meet with you for that.” She wasn’t disappointed, only confused.

“It’s protocol. And I wanted to welcome you back in person.” His hand fidgeted at his side like he was resisting the urge to touch her again.

She took the initiative and grabbed his upper arm, taking note of how firm his bicep was beneath his suit jacket. “Thank you, Ben. For everything.”

 

* * *

 

**Oxford:**

Rey adjusted the honey colored wig one more time. She felt it wasn’t laying right, but she’d have to deal. She also ran a hand over her tight but tasteful black cocktail dress. This was a high class party and she needed to get close enough to the head of the Engineering department for her device to scan her access card. Only then would she be able to retrieve the clock from their lab. She grabbed her little clutch and shifted towards the back of the van. Turning around to Finn, she asked, “How do I look?”

“For the record? That’s a question you never have to ask.” He winked as she smiled and stepped out of the van.

Heels were not Rey’s friend. She could walk, and even run just fine in them, but damn if she didn’t loathe wearing them. Ever the professional, she strode flawlessly into the ornate room where the party was being held. She grabbed a champagne flute as she did a turn through the room, looking for her target. A flash of blonde hair across the way caught her attention. _Phasma_. The statuesque woman was looking resplendent in cobalt blue and chatting up a tenured gentleman in tweed. Rey touched her earpiece, alerting Finn. “We’ve got company.”

She found the woman she was looking for, and got her attention. “Dr. Vicly, I’m Julie with the Kensington group and we are just fascinated by your current study.”

Finn’s voice came over her earpiece, “Looks like they are currently studying crash trends in autonomous driving.”

Dr. Vicly cocked her eyebrow and asked, “Which one?”

“The one about crash trends in autonomous driving.” Rey flashed her a winning smile.

“Ah yes, it is an interesting one.” She smoothed her golden mane back and launched into a boring succession of statistics.

“Just hold her for 30 more seconds,” Finn urged. “Okay, got it!”

Rey stopped Dr. Vicly before she had finished her monologue. “I’m so sorry, please excuse me,” she muttered as she rushed to meet Finn in the hallway and grab the access card. She locked eyes with Phasma on her way and the K-Directorate agent raised her glass in acknowledgement.

Finn was dressed as a waiter and was ready for Rey when she approached. He handed her a new glass of champagne with the card tucked in the napkin beneath. “Call the facility and let them know someone is heading toward the lab,” she told him.

“But Rey, then you’ll have to deal with the guards.”

“Let me worry about that. Phasma is here.”

He nodded and headed back outside. By the time Rey reached the corridor that held the lab, she saw Phasma locked in a fight with two guards. She knocked a blow with her left elbow to one of them and turned her head just in time to see Rey raise her glass in salute.

As soon as Rey swiped the access card, she spilled her champagne on the reader, shorting it out. Then she was safely behind the glass for when Phasma inevitably caught up. She located the clock, sitting open in its wooden crate on one of the tables. It held the Rambaldi symbol on the back. Gingerly, she wrapped it in cloth and tucked it under her arm. She looked up in time to see Phasma banging on the glass. It was almost enough to make her smile, until the other woman pulled out a gun and began firing into the glass door. Rey looked around and noticed a window at the back the room. She carefully pushed it open and slid through, taking care to keep the clock safe. 

 

*

 

As predicted, the clock needed repairs. Rey’s next mission would be to Positano, Italy to see the clockmaker Giovanni Donato. It was his family that had built the clock under Rambaldi’s supervision in 1503. She had just come back from lunch with Finn when Luke caught her and pulled her into an empty office. He took a pen out of his pocket and twisted it once. “We have sixty seconds to talk freely. What do you know about Carise Sindian?”

“High level SD-6, deals with containment.”

“Exactly. She’s coming in to help Snoke with the mole problem.”

“Mole problem? You think they found Ben’s virus?”

He noted that she called him Ben instead of Agent Solo. “I don’t know, but Rey, they’re going to be giving everyone the rundown.”

“I know how to pass an LDT.”

“This isn’t a standard lie detector. It uses physiological reactions as well to gauge whether someone is lying. You need to have Ben prep you for this.”

“Okay.” The pen beeped, signaling the end of their private conversation.

“Right, then that should be good.” He walked out of the room, leaving Rey alone.

 

* * *

 

This was not going well. Rey had electrodes on each temple and she was sitting across from Ben in an empty airplane hangar. They were alone, and she was nervous enough to be messing up the practice test he was giving her. It certainly had nothing to do with his rolled up shirtsleeves, exposing the strong forearms beneath, or the fact that he was looking at her with hawklike intensity, making her feel like she could drown in those chocolate pools he had for eyes.

“You have to stay under a thirty on the readout for it to come across as truth. Let’s try this again. Are you a double agent?”

Rey took a deep breath. “No.” She watched the readout start at a 31 before dropping down to 28.

“Better,” Ben commended her. “Are you romantically interested in anyone?”

He _had_ to be joking. She gave him a pointed look and opened her mouth to say something.

“Just answer the question. You don’t know what they’re going to ask.”

She squinted and slowly replied, “No.”

The readout shot up to 54. “Interesting,” he remarked.

“Wait, ask me again.”

“I don’t think I need to, we have our answer.” She could have sworn he smirked as he said this, but it was gone too fast to notice.

“Ben… if this test were real, I’d be dead already.”

His eyes conveyed that he understood the gravity of the situation. “We’ll keep working on it.”

 

* * *

 

**Positano:**

The architecture here was beautiful, there was no denying that. Rey looked up at the Rococo era apartment building in awe. She wasn’t here to sightsee, though. For all she knew, Phasma and the rest of K-Directorate was hot on her trail. She entered the lift, shutting the gilded cage door behind her and entering floor eight as her destination. The ornate lift was completely open to the interior of the building, only the intricate filigree separating her from the floors as she passed by. 

When she came to the correct door, with “Donato” listed on a brass plate, she carefully knocked. The old man who answered the door reminded her more of a Pixar character than anyone else she had ever met. His glasses were perched halfway down his nose and he had a perpetual hunch. “You are American?” he asked in a thick Italian accent.

“Yes,” she answered slightly confused, adopting her standard American accent for continuity. 

“Everyone else calls before coming. Only Americans show up unannounced.” He hobbled over to his work station where an assortment of tools and clock parts were scattered.

“I’ve brought you this clock, do you think you can fix it?” She asked, gingerly placing the ancient timepiece on his table.

“Ah, the Magnific Order of Rambaldi,” he mused, seeing the <o> symbol engraved on the clock.

“Yes, but do you know what the symbol means?”

“I don’t know, he never told me.” Rey shot him an odd look at this, maybe the man had grown senile, but he seemed completely lucid. Noticing his error, he corrected himself. “Uh, I mean my mother. She never told me what it means.”

He gave a nervous little laugh and set down, bringing his glasses closer and starting work on the clock. Rey watched in silence, only the clinking of his metal tools breaking the peace. The windows in his small place were open, letting in the most magnificent breeze. She could get used to Italy. 

At that moment, Rey saw movement from the corner of her eye. She looked out the window to the roof of the adjacent building and briefly thought she saw a head. Just then, Donato stood up and said, “It is over.”

Rey saw the laser focus but before she could react, the shot rang out and she was left to cower under the table as Donato slumped to the floor, lifeless. She paused a moment to stare in horror at the old man, before calmly grabbing the clock off the table and making a run for the door. She headed to the fancy lift and was met with the sneering face of Phasma. The K-Directorate agent was dressed in a simple suit, but her lips were painted blood red. “Miss me?” she intoned through the gilded bars.

Instead of answering, Rey took off running down the stairs, only to be met by two other beefy K-Directorate agents. She turned on her heel and ran up towards the roof. As she passed each new floor, she could see Phasma slowly ascending in the lift, changing her destination to match. Rey would have to pick up the pace. She reached the roof and prodded the door open. A barred terrace lined the edge of the old building. Perfect. She ran to the edge as Phasma gained access to the roof, taking the chance to unload a storm of bullets in Rey’s direction. Ducking her head, she reached in her pack and grabbed the rappelling cord. She clipped it to the wrought iron bars lining the roof and making sure it was secure, jumped off.

There was something exhilarating about free falling twelve stories down. Rey grimaced as the wind rushed past, slowing her descent at the final moment. She then unhooked herself and took off running once more. Phasma and the other agents had lost again. When she reached the end of the block Finn was waiting for her in the van. “Close call?” he asked.

“You have no idea.”

 

* * *

 

Back at headquarters, Rey was doing her best not to worry. They were in the midst of the meeting, but she knew she could be called into Carise Sindian’s makeshift office at anytime to undergo the evaluation. Ben had prepared her well enough, but it was still a gamble with her life. Even in her best disguise, it was hard to hide her disdain for Snoke. She shook her head slightly, trying to declutter her brain. _Focus_. Rose was talking. “Rambaldi, definitely a genius. As with a lot of his work, alone this is just a clock. But does anyone remember the yellow polymer disc from a few weeks back?”

“The golden sun from the church in Malaga,” Rey replied.

“Right!” Rose was practically beaming. “Well, if you place it behind the clock’s face like so…” She paused inserting the disc into the spot clearly designed for it at the top of the clock. “and set the time to exactly 1:22, look what happens.”

Rose had set the clock to 1:22 and the gears began to move. Suddenly, a host of white dots could be seen on the polymer disc inside. “Does anyone know what this is?” she asked the room.

Finn, enraptured by it all, leaned forward and marveled, “It’s a star chart.”

Rose looked surprised and offered him a genuine smile. “That’s absolutely right. And given the date carved into the clock underneath Rambaldi’s symbol, there’s only spot in the world where the stars looked like this at that time.”

“Where?” Finn asked.

“Mount Aconcagua , near the border of Chile and Argentina. We think this may be the location of Rambaldi’s journal. If you were able to find it, it would be such a treasure trove.” It was clear Rose’s mind had started to wander with the possibilities. Her favorite project would be building something from a Rambaldi sketch. 

It was decided that Finn and Rey would head there tomorrow. Snoke, who had joined everyone in the conference room for the meeting caught Rey before she could leave. “Oh Rey, before you leave, Carise is ready to see you.”

Rey nodded and walked calmly down the hall to the temporary office. Carise Sindian was icy in appearance, all sharp angles and features. Her dark brown eyes bore no warmth, and her dark hair now shot through with gray was gathered into a neat bun at the back of her head. She must have been beautiful once, but Rey thought she looked much too severe to be considered so now. She wore a light gray suit so shiny it could have been silver and a large emerald sat at the top of her sternum. “Agent Rey, have a seat.”

The older woman set to sticking electrodes at each of Rey’s temples and hooking her up to the machinery. Then it was time for the barrage of questions. “Are you an agent of SD-6?” 

“Yes.”

By the time the test was done, Rey felt a little bit better. She had confidently answered each question and maintained her composure throughout. Even though Carise’s visage gave nothing away, Rey noted nothing to give her any cause for concern. She gathered her things and headed home.

No sooner had she kicked off her heels and slumped onto the couch than the phone rang. “Joey’s Pizza.”

“Sorry, wrong number.” She sighed and went to her room to change into her running clothes. She had almost pulled the door open when the key turned in the lock.

Poe launched through the door, wheeling his suitcase beside him. He had his captain’s hat tucked under his arm and smiled when he saw Rey. Looking her over, he inquired, “Going for a run?”

“Yup.” She patted him on the arm as she brushed past him. “Welcome back.”

 

*

Inside the bloodmobile, Ben Solo was struggling. He watched Rey climb inside, a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead and her ponytail bouncing from the movement. She was wearing yoga pants and a hoodie, but he found her downright adorable. _God, what is wrong with you? She is your agent. You have a responsibility_. He took a deep breath and found himself grinning anyway. “How did it go with Sindian?”

“I think well. I mean, I’m still alive and I leave for South America tomorrow.”

“They wouldn’t be sending you on a mission if they thought you were the mole.”

“I guess not.” She grinned a little and tried to avoid direct eye contact. She had actually run the whole way here and was worried that she might smell. _Why do I care so much what he thinks?_

Ben slid a small device toward her on the counter. As Rey went to grab it, their hands brushed and she could feel the heat creep onto her cheeks. He cleared his throat. “It’s a tiny camera, linked directly to our satellite. Regardless of where you are, you can take pictures of the journal and they’ll come straight to CIA headquarters. Ideally you’ll be able to photograph the whole thing before handing it over to SD-6.”

“Great.” Rey looked at him and watched as he ran a nervous hand through his hair. She idly wished it were her hand.

“Rey, I need to tell you something. I know you’re working more with Luke now and just so you know, he’s my uncle.”

“What?” She had not guessed that.

“I think he respects you, and so I just wanted to clear the air in case he ever, uh, says anything about me… to you.”

“Oh ok. Well, he hasn’t… so far.”

“Good. I mean, I don’t know if he would, but we don’t exactly get along, so,” he shrugged, leaving his sentence unfinished.

“What happened?”

Ben’s face fell. “That’s a long story for another time. Good luck in South America.”

“Thanks.”

 

* * *

 

**Mount Aconcagua:**

Finn grabbed the binoculars out his bag and looked around. The terrain was rough here, leaving their rented jeep covered in dust. Rey lowered her bandana and squinted through her sunglasses at him. “These are the coordinates Rose gave us.”

He nodded and looked through the binoculars again. “There!” He shouted and pointed just ahead. They ambled over to the outcropping Finn saw, their hiking boots on the rough ground the only sound for miles. The rock formation was not out of the ordinary, but to the trained eye, it didn’t match the rest of the terrain. 

Rey bent over and started smoothing back dirt from a clean patch of the ground. Finn bent down to join her. As their hands scooped the red dirt away, they found what they had been looking for. Rambaldi’s symbol carved into a large metal hatch. They wasted no time in lifting up the lid, Rey nearly toppling inside as it swung upward. Finn had to grab her arm to keep her from going in. It was a long way down to the bottom, obscured in total darkness. The only way down was a bamboo and rope ladder. She sincerely hoped it was sturdy. “I’m going in.”

“Okay. Rey, be careful.”

 

*

 

Snoke looked up from his desk as Agent Carise Sindian approached. She laid the results of Rey’s evaluation in front of him. “Director Snoke, I think I’ve found your mole.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Varish Vicly
> 
> [Carise Sindian](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Carise_Sindian)
> 
> Sorry, I just really love Bloodline. :)


	5. Mea Culpa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, again! Time for another ~~episode~~ installment of TBT. 
> 
> Buckle your seatbelts because we have major Ben Solo backstory in this one. Hope you like it - please leave a comment if you're so inclined. ;)
> 
> Disclaimer: besides what I've borrowed from Alias, I know nothing about the world of espionage. Literally everything is made up.

Rey started down the ladder made of bamboo and thick rope. It seemed to hold her weight just fine, and she let a little sigh of relief come out. Her steps became quicker and surer with each rung safely conquered. It felt like an eternity to the bottom, but once she was finally down, she switched on a small flashlight and took in her surroundings. The cave was small, but there was a definite pathway to follow. She took it to the end and discovered a stone altar with a lid carved out of the top. Carefully removing the lid, she found a large leather-bound book with Rambaldi’s symbol on the cover. His journal.

She took the tiny camera out that Ben had given her and began to photograph each page. Just then Finn came on over the radio, “Rey, it’s K-Directorate. You need to get out fast! I’ll try to hold them off.”

“Finn?” she called back, knowing she needed a few more moments to capture all the pages.

Gunshots rang out through the speaker, and Rey closed the journal. She had to move quickly. She could snap the rest of the photos later. She closed the journal and tucked it into her backpack. She began up the rickety ladder, taking the rungs as fast as she could. Halfway to the top, she spied Phasma descending towards her. She climbed faster, looking for a way to outmaneuver her rival. No such luck. As Phasma came within arm’s reach, Rey struck her elbow out quickly, catching the other woman in the ribs.

Phasma grunted and countered with a kick to Rey’s hip, causing her to lose balance momentarily. She clung precariously to the bamboo and rope, praying to not fall to her death. Reaching within for her last bit of strength, she swung by one arm, using her velocity to find purchase on the ladder again while simultaneously landing a blow to Phasma’s spine. The K-Directorate agent shrieked in pain, and Rey left her behind, taking the rope rungs two at a time. Before long, Phasma regained her strength and pursued Rey back up the ladder. She managed to get a grip on her ankle and started to pull her down. Desperate to be rid of her, Rey reared back and stomped hard on Phasma’s hand with her hiking boot.

Taken by surprise, Phasma was unable to block the blow and Rey heard the distinct sound of crushing bones. With a yelp, she removed her broken hand from the ladder. She was now hanging on by one hand. Rey took a deep breath and moved her other foot to connect with Phasma’s remaining hand. Her hazel eyes showed no remorse as the K-Directorate agent lost purchase on the ancient ladder and plummeted to the depths below. She knew if the situation were reversed, Phasma would have gladly watched her die.

Knowing there was no time to lose, she hastened up the ladder and breached the top of the hatch. There was no one else in sight, and it was too quiet. Hiking her pack further up on her shoulders, she ran to where they had parked the jeep and saw Finn’s boots sticking out behind the vehicle. “No, no, no,” She cried, rushing to his side.

Finn moaned in response. _Good, he’s alive_. Blood seeped from a gunshot wound in his chest, painting his white shirt red and pooling in a muddy puddle on the dirt. Rey didn’t have much time to think. She pulled out the satellite phone Ben had given her and called for help. “Come in base ops. This is Scavenger. I’ve got an agent down, requesting immediate evac.”

“Copy that,” game the garbled response.

She heard Finn groan again and hoped to God he wouldn’t remember any of this. “Shhh,” she told him. “Help is on the way.”

 

* * *

 

Carise Sindian fiddled with the large emerald that nestled on her sternum, pulling it back and forth on its chain. Director Snoke was an ugly man and every moment spent in his presence was odious to her. She had better things to do with her time. He eyed her warily. “Agent Rey’s results were exemplary. What makes you think she’s the mole?”

“That’s exactly it. She did _too_ well. Her answers were _too_ precise, like she had rehearsed this.” Leave it to a man to doubt a woman’s intuition. This was her job, and she was damn good at it.

“Utter nonsense. Rey is like a daughter to me. She is faithful to SD-6.”

Carise resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She could tell that in the old man’s hubris, he actually believed this. “And you’re _absolutely_ sure?”

Snoke stroked his pock marked chin as he thought it over. Rey had exhibited some weird behavior as of late, but he thought of a surefire way to tell if she were truly disloyal. “No. Okay, Carise, if you’re so sure… I’ll give the order to have her eliminated.”

“As you wish, Director.” She strode out of his office with a smug grin on her sharp features. She missed the directive Snoke started typing up as soon as she left.

 

* * *

 

Finn looked smaller than normal. She wasn’t sure if it was the hospital gown or all the tubes coming out of him, but Rey thought this was the most vulnerable she’d ever seen him. Her hand trembled slightly as she took his and held it. “I’m so sorry, Finn. You’re going to be okay.”

She had told Snoke that she managed to get Finn into the jeep and bring him to the local hospital herself. Anything to hide the fact that she had called the _real_ CIA to airlift Finn out of there. Once he was stable enough to be moved, they’d send someone in to bring him back to L.A. She might be in the clear for now, but she still had a job to do.

Rey slept fitfully on the plane back, and was barely listening to Rose in their current briefing. She was showing the special USB device she had rigged for this next mission. It was a simple live drop with their informant in Toronto. All she had to do was meet said informant and exchange her thumb drive for his. Simple. Rey had done more difficult jobs on autopilot before.

She was even having trouble focusing in her follow up meeting with Ben. “You were right,” she said. The storage facility they were meeting at offered more privacy than normal. “To give me the sat phone. So thanks.”

He offered a wan smile. “How is Finn?”

“He’s stable, but he hasn’t woken up yet. Back in the states, at least.”

“That’s good. I’m glad to hear it. I know you two are… close.”

“He’s been my partner for four years. I’ve risked my life for him on more than one occasion.”

Ben nodded. “And that’s all you two are, is partners...”

“Are you serious right now?” Rey leveled a stare at him.

Taking the hint, he corrected himself. “Right, sorry. Not my business.”

“One, you’re damn right it’s not. And two, you know I’m an orphan, right? Of course you do, you’ve read my file.” She stepped closer to him, invading his space.  “Finn is the closest thing I have to family. He’s a big part of the reason I’m so intent on bringing SD-6 down. He doesn’t know who he’s working for, and it makes me _sick_. He’s a good man, Ben. I want better for him.”

He rocked back on his heels. Why was he perpetually jealous of any man in Rey’s life? He needed to get a handle on this quickly. “I know you do. We’re doing what we can to dismantle them as quickly as possible, but Rey - you knew this was a long game from the beginning.”

She was close enough now to have to look up to make eye contact. It suddenly hit her that he smelled good, _really_ good. She swallowed before speaking. “I know. I just wish we could bring him in sometimes. It’s really difficult keeping this from him.”

Ben reached out and touched her shoulder. _Bad idea_ . Now he was looking at her mouth. _Really bad idea_. “I know.”

Rey’s eyes wandered from his amber irises down his beauty marked face to his strong jaw and full lips. Was he leaning in or was it her imagination? She thought idly it would be so easy to rise up on her toes and press her mouth to his. An ambulance wailing past outside brought her back to reality, and she cleared her throat.

He shook his head quickly, as if to break whatever spell had momentarily overcome them. “Uh, so I’ll see you when you get back from Toronto.” He ran a nervous hand through his hair.

“Yeah, sounds good.” She turned on her heel and nearly ran out of there. _What the hell was that?_

 

* * *

 

Agent Connix power walked around the corridor as swiftly as possible, blonde ponytail bobbing behind her. She wouldn’t run, as that was unprofessional, but she needed Agent Solo to see this communique as soon as possible. She took a deep breath upon reaching his office and knocked firmly on the door. “Come in,” came the deep voice on the other side.” She entered, and he seemed surprised to see her. “Agent Connix, what can I do for you?”

“You need to see this, sir.” She handed him a printout of a directive they had intercepted from the virus they had in the SD-6 server. “It just came over. I made sure to show you before doing anything else.”

His eyes widened in horror. “Thank you, Connix. I’ll handle it.”

She nodded and left without being dismissed. She had learned to keep her distance in all matters involving Rey.

Once she had disappeared from view, Ben picked up his phone. “Yes, it’s Agent Solo. I need an extraction team assembled immediately.” He paused as the voice on the other end said something. “Mhmm. Toronto.”

 

* * *

 

Luke Skywalker roamed the halls of SD-6 until he saw her, tinkering with some new invention as usual. “Rose Tico, just the person I was looking for.”

Looking up, she set down her tools. “What can I do ya for, sir?”

“I was wondering if you had a second? I want to ask a question about the server.”

“Of course!” She rolled her chair over to her terminal. “Ask away.”

“Can you pull up today’s transmissions?”

“I’m going to need a timeframe unless you want to be sitting here while I scroll through about a hundred pages of information.” She snorted.

“Right. It would’ve been about twelve-thirty.”

“Lunchtime. Okay, let me see.” She keyed in a few things and brought up a bunch of data on the screen.

“Here. This one, can you tell what server that went out on?”

“Sure, it looks like this went out on… hmm, that’s weird.”

“What?”

“Well I had identified the virus that was slowly leaking information from one of our servers and I was going to put a stop to it, but Snoke told me not to. He had me change everything over to a new server but leave that one open so we could control what was going through. Looks like this message only went through the unsecured server.”

“And you’re absolutely sure?”

“A hundred percent, sir.”

“Thanks, Rose. You’re a genius.”

“That’s what they tell me!” She laughed as she watched him walk away.

 

*

 

By the time Luke made it to the CIA office, Ben was already in full tactical mode. He was in a room with several monitors, getting ready to watch the extraction team save Rey from an execution order that came directly from Snoke.

“You have to call off the team,” Luke said.

“Excuse me?” Ben glared at his uncle.

“That message was only sent over SD-6’s unsecured server. They meant for you to find it. It’s a trap. If you send the team in there, Snoke will know Rey is a double and then he’ll kill her for real.”

“How do you know this? If I just trust you, and the order is real, then you’re asking me to sit here and watch Rey die. I can’t do that.”

“Listen, Ben. You’re an excellent agent, but this is how Snoke operates. He's trying to draw us out. He is testing Rey’s allegiance here. I’m telling you if your team goes in, it’s all over.”

Ben pursed his lips and swallowed, trying to figure out what to do. He couldn’t lose someone else he cared about to Snoke, not after… he just couldn’t do it.

 

**Five Years Ago:**

Dressed all in black, Ben Solo, alias Kylo Ren, ran through the bowels of the building. He had just stolen a very important piece of tech for SD-6 Director Snoke and had strict orders to blow the whole building on his way out. They couldn’t risk the blueprints for the device falling into the hands of K-Directorate, or worse, the First Order.

He breathed heavily as he ran down the corridor, a thrill going through his body. He lived for this - the excitement, the intrigue, never knowing which moment might be his last. Sure, he was serving his country, but he was also doing what he was meant to do... despite how things had turned out in training. It was Snoke and his black ops division that had given Ben a second chance, an opportunity to be someone else, someone _important_.

He ran into two guards at the end of the hallway. The device safely secured in his backpack, he had no trouble immobilizing the first with a right hook to the jaw followed by a sharp kick to the knee cap. The man howled in pain as he fell to the floor. This gave the second guard, a woman, time to land a swift kick to Ben’s chest. He stumbled backward before recovering and landing a swift elbow to her side. While she reeled, he swiveled around behind her and placed a kick to her lower back so hard he heard a sickening crack followed by her blood-curdling scream as she sank to her knees.

He grimaced but continued on; he’d long ago set aside the unease his father had instilled in him of ever hitting a woman. He often found if he made that mistake in the field, they were more deadly than any man he could face. Exiting the building and running a safe distance away, Ben set off the charges he had installed after swiping the device. He watched the building go up in a blaze, a fireball shooting upwards into the murky sky. Snoke had assured him that all but a skeleton crew remained in the facility. A small price to pay for making sure such important intel wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands. A necessary sacrifice, he would say.

He was receiving his commendation from Snoke on a job well done when his phone went off. It was his mother. If she was calling him, it had to be important. She usually sent an email to make plans, which wasn’t often. Ever since he had started working for SD-6, he had less contact with her. It was some unspoken agency thing, distancing yourself from your loved ones. The CIA liked to portray themselves as family friendly, but this was black ops. Ben knew the more time he spent with his family, the more likely it was that they would be in danger. He slipped out of the conference room and into the hallway. “Mom?”

“Ben, you’d better come quickly. It’s your father.”

Han Solo was a decorated war hero and an ace pilot. Ben always thought he’d follow in his footsteps, but his high aptitude in social science and history had lead him towards his uncle’s line of work. He applied to the CIA right out of college and made it through all the rigorous interviews and tests. It wasn’t until he had actually made it to training at The Farm that it all fell apart. He was pulled out a couple weeks before graduation and told he was being dismissed. No explanation. The CIA didn’t need one. Snoke had found him shortly after. Broken and defeated, Ben had jumped at the chance to join a clandestine division of the agency. It was a second chance to prove himself; too bad he couldn’t tell anyone about it.

He arrived at the hospital and found his mother in the waiting room, tears rimming her brown eyes. The eyes that she had passed onto him. She rose from her chair and enveloped him in a hug, tears staining his shirt. “What happened?” he asked as he rubbed her back.

“They think it might have been a terrorist attack. Your father was at the Davis Building, meeting with other veterans regarding an upcoming memorial event, when the whole place just exploded. He was pulled out of the rubble, but Ben… they don’t think he’s going to make it.”

All the color drained from his face. His father had been in the building. Did Snoke know? “Can I see him?”

“Yes, but it’s an awful sight. Just prepare yourself.” She turned and motioned for him to follow her into the room.

The sight of the great Han Solo with burns covering most of his body, tubes coming out of him, and a mask over his face to facilitate breathing, was more than Ben could take. And it was all his fault. He didn’t even try to hold back the sobs that wracked his body. He felt Leia snake her arm around him, and they held each other as they cried. He passed away a couple hours later.

 

*

 

Filled with rage, Ben strode into Snoke’s office, not bothering to set up an appointment. “Did you know?” He shouted.

“Agent Solo. Calm down, and we can talk about this,” he said calmly, the snide smile never leaving his face.

“My father is dead, so forgive me if I can’t calm down. Did you know he would be in the building when you ordered me to blow it up?” Snoke looked down at the floor. “ANSWER ME!” Ben’s Adam’s apple was bobbing as he swallowed, overcome with anger.

“Of course I knew. It didn’t change the fact that it needed to be done. I’ve told you that this job entails a great deal of sacrifice-”

“You son of a bitch.” He threw a chair into the wall, but Snoke remained unfazed.

“If you can’t handle it, then maybe you don’t have a place here. Why don’t you take a couple days and think it over.”

 

*

 

He would kill Snoke. He had decided. He would kill him and then himself. It was the only thing that made sense. He was in too deep for them to ever let him leave, but he couldn’t do this anymore, not after what it had cost him. He took another swig from the bottle of Jack that he had bought on his way home. There was about a third left in the bottle now and he was pretty drunk. This was probably the sole reason he didn’t realize that someone had sneaked into his apartment and now revealed himself from the shadows.

“Ben.”

“Uncle Luke? What the fuck are you doing here? Why weren’t you at the funeral?”

“We don’t have a lot of time. I’ve activated this,” he pulled out what looked like a pen from his coat. “It’ll give us two minutes without SD-6 listening in.”

“Wait, how do you know about-”

“Don’t interrupt. I have a lot of info to get out at once. SD-6 is not part of the CIA, they are a branch of the First Order. Director Snoke is an evil man, and I know this, because I work with him, too. It’s all my fault that you ended up there, and I’d like to apologize properly someday, but for now, I need you to trust me. If you want to know the truth, and want a chance to make this right, go to this address tomorrow at noon.” He handed him a slip of paper and left through the sliding glass door.

 

* * *

 

Ben looked at his uncle again. For all his faults, he knew the man was annoyingly, usually right. He spoke into the mouthpiece of his headset, “Call off the team. I said stand down.”

Luke seemed to visibly relax.

“You better be right about this, old man.”

They both watched as Rey made her way through the park and made the live drop without a hitch. Her hair was loose and Ben watched as it rustled in the breeze. She had made it. She was alive. Undoubtedly, Snoke was somewhere also watching and was now assured of Rey’s allegiance. They had made the right call.

“You’re welcome,” Luke said as he left the room.

Ben sighed in relief.

 

*

 

Rey fidgeted in the seat across the desk. She stared at the nameplate: Agent Ben Solo. It was the first time she’d been in his office since the day she learned the truth. She had come into the field office through a secret entrance. Usually it was too much of a risk for her to be seen there, but Ben had called her in today. He had gotten held up by Connix with a report, but he promised to meet her in his office, his hand casually grazing the small of her back as he did so. She shouldn’t like it so much when he touched her. He was, after all, just her handler. It was his job to make her feel comfortable, to keep her going. That’s all.

This train of thought was interrupted as he came back in and took his place on the other side of the desk. He took a moment to get his bearings. It would be foolish to tell her how relieved he was to see her face again, after the close call in Toronto, especially since she wasn’t aware of the situation. He began by simply explaining what had gone down.

“Unbelievable. So it was a test the whole time?”

“It appears so, yes.”

“And you were just willing to gamble with my life like that?” She meant it more lighthearted than it sounded.

Ben did _that thing_ with his mouth. She noticed he always did that when he was processing what to say. “No, I had an extraction team ready to move in and get you out of there. It was Luke who convinced me it was a trap to get the CIA to show their hand. I almost didn’t listen.” He swallowed and paused. “If I had lost you…”

Without thinking Rey reached across his desk and grabbed his hand. “You didn’t. That’s what matters.” She smiled weakly. 

“Anyway,” he said, clearing his throat. He squeezed her hand back before letting it go. “That’s not why I called you in. I, uh… owe you an explanation of my history with SD-6 and why I was assigned to be your handler.” He launched into the gory details of how he had killed his own father, via Snoke’s orders, and that was how he had come to learn the truth.

“Oh, Ben.”

“Turns out, Luke was the one who got me kicked out of The Farm. My mom was already involved with the CIA but my dad, he was worried. My uncle stubbornly thought he could keep me out of danger if I were to not become an agent. But that’s when Snoke swooped in and took advantage. I was so eager to prove myself, I did whatever he asked. A lot of things I’m not proud of. After I found out the truth, I tried the double agent thing for a bit... but I was too reckless. I endangered the lives of those around me because I stopped caring whether I survived missions. So they took me out of the field. We staged my death, and for a while it worked. But then I was needed in the field again a few times and Snoke caught wind of my movements and tried to have me taken out. The night we met was actually the first time I had been in the field in well over a year.”

Shock covered Rey’s features. “Well, you sure put up a hell of a fight for not being in the field so long.”

“Yeah, but I let you give me this.” He motioned over his scar.

“You’re never going to let me live that down are you?” She chuckled softly.

He laughed. “Not a chance.” Stopping to open the folder that was on his desk, he continued. “Great job on getting the rest of the pictures taken while Finn was being airlifted. How is he by the way?”

“I heard he woke up today. I’m actually going to see him after here.”

“That’s good. So, it was a thing with Rambaldi, the number forty-seven.”

“Ah yes, I’m aware.”

“Page forty-seven of the manuscript was blank. We have people in analysis working on the rest of the pages, but we’re going to need you to switch out the real one and bring it in.”

Rey took a deep breath. No doubt the journal was deep within a vault at SD-6. “Okay, and how do you suggest I do that?”

“First find out where it’s being kept. Then we’ll brainstorm from there.”

She nodded. “Well, thank you, for sharing some of your history with me. It wasn’t really necessary-”

“It was. Rey, I need you to trust me, and I think not being fully honest with you until now was hindering for our relationship. I don’t want you to ever think you can’t come to me with things. I’m here for you. It’s important to me that you know that.” His intense gaze cut to her soul.

She tried to ignore the flutter in her chest at the word “relationship.” He meant their working relationship, of course. She tried to swallow but found her mouth had gone dry. “I do. I know that.”

“Good.” As he saw her out, he touched the small of her back again. Rey could feel the warmth of his hand radiate through her layers of clothing.

 

* * *

 

Her visit with Finn had gone well. He looked much better, and there was talk of letting him go home the following day. She decided to stop back by the office, to see if she could figure out where Rambaldi’s journal was being stored. Rey stepped into the usual elevator but it stopped halfway there. She looked at the readout and realized, SD-6 was on lockdown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [The Farm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Peary)
> 
> What's going on at SD-6, I wonder???


	6. Page 47

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update has arrived! Thanks for sticking with this story. After the heaviness of the last chapter, this one is a bit more fun. Hope you enjoy!

If SD-6 was on lockdown, it could only mean one thing: they had been infiltrated. There was a strict procedure in place for an event like this, and Rey knew it had to be a tough situation if Snoke had actually enacted it. She exhaled long and slow. _What a day_.

Rey jumped up, using the handrail of the elevator to propel her to the ceiling. Straddling the railing in the corner, she pushed out the center tile slowly and over enough for her to hoist herself through. Once inside the shaft, she used the flashlight on her phone to illuminate the dark around her. She could see the next floor and pried open the door enough to slip through. She made her way down through the building’s crawl spaces to the breaker room, thinking if she could splice into the surveillance feed, she would know more about the situation. She took caution as she crept through the corridors, so as not to alert any intruders to her presence.

Once in the breaker room, which doubled as an obsolete electronic graveyard, she prised open the panel and took out two wires, stripping the outer casing and attaching a nearby cable from the wires to an ancient monitor. She switched feeds until she found what she was looking for - the main office area. The infiltrators had the agents all sitting on the floor like bank hostages. She could see Rose, Jessika, Dopheld Mitaka, and even Luke was nearby. No sign of Snoke, though. The group’s leader must have him tied up somewhere else. Then she saw a familiar face come into frame: Armitage Hux.

She took out her phone again and called her emergency CIA line. When the dispatcher came on, she didn’t mince words. “Put me through to Ben Solo. Yeah, it’s Rey.”

 

*

 

“That smarmy British bastard.” Just hearing Ben’s voice and his obvious disdain for Hux brought the hint of a smile to her face.

“What should I do? I mean, I’ve got the element of surprise, but this is a team of six highly trained people with deadly weapons.”

“The best course of action would to be to corner them one by one and take them out. If Snoke thinks it’s beyond hope, he’ll trigger the self destruct.”

“I’m hoping I can contain the situation before it gets to that.”

“But you didn’t see where they were keeping him, right?”

“Regular surveillance doesn’t have the interrogation rooms. They’re on a private channel.”

“Well, he’s not priority number one, anyway.” Ben’s tone served as a reminder that he wouldn’t care if Snoke were to become a casualty in this. Rey would prefer to see him pay with her own eyes.

“Okay. So see if the self-destruct has been triggered, disarm it if so, find a way to eliminate the intruders and save all my coworkers. Easy peasy.”

Ben huffed loudly into the phone. “I’m going to regret this, but stay put. I’m coming to help you.”

Before she could protest, the line disconnected.

 

*

 

“This is totally against protocol, and I’m not sticking my neck out for you again, Solo.” Wexley was following Ben around as he threw some gear into a bag.

“I’m not asking you to.”

“You know we’ve been ordered to not do anything.”

“I can’t sit by and do nothing. Rey needs me.”

“And what if there has been a takeover?"

Ben checked his gun to make sure it was loaded and put it in his holster. “If I’m not back in a couple hours, I’m probably dead.”

Wexley threw his hands up in frustration and walked out of the room. “Good to know.”

As soon he left, Ben rolled his eyes and finished the task at hand. When he arrived at the SD-6 headquarters, he followed the directions Rey had given him. He was able to avoid detection and meet her in the breaker room. Upon entering the room, he saw she had already incapacitated and tied up one of the team members. “I see you’ve been busy.”

“He patrolled this hall, so it was his fault really.” She smirked.

“Clearly. So what updates do you have?”

She brought him over to the monitor where she had spliced into the surveillance feed. “Hux is out of sight again, presumably torturing Snoke somewhere.”

“Good,” Ben couldn’t help from saying.

“Right? So I’ve got this guy, that leaves four others. There’s two watching the hostages and two outside the vault. I’m not sure what they’re here for.”

“Could be the same thing we need, the blank page from Rambaldi’s journal.”

“You think that’s what Hux is after?” Rey asked.

“I know he is a collector of anything of value. And that he’ll sell to the highest bidder. We need to make sure he doesn’t get what he came for.”

“We also need to make sure the hostages are safe.”

“Okay, so how about I take the vault and you help the hostages? I can’t be seen by the other agents.”

“Good plan.” She showed him the changes that had been made to the security system since he’d last been there, and then they split up. She insisted Ben take a walkie.

 

*

 

Rey traveled through the vents in order to not be detected by Hux’s crew. She peered down through the grate and saw Rose sitting on the ground beside the female guard. She kept throwing daggers with her stare. She definitely was a fiery agent. She spotted the other guard near a newer junior agent who went by Trixie. No one looked to be in immediate danger so she crawled to the vent above Rose’s lab.

Carefully, Rey lowered herself onto one the sturdy tables, trying not to make any noise. She managed to land gracefully and grabbed a couple items from the shelves before hoisting herself back inside the vent.

In the main office, the hostages looked over as smoke started to come out from one of the hallways. Jessika sniffed the air and loudly exclaimed, “What’s that?”

The woman guard looked and motioned to her partner. “You better go check that out.”

He took off toward the smoke, gun aimed at any potential intruders. Before his sight could adjust, a shadow hurled towards him and he hit the floor with a grunt, Rey having knocked him down with a kick to the chest. She quickly disarmed him and used the butt of his rifle to knock him out. She then dragged his body into a nearby room and waited for the other guard to come looking for him.

His walkie went off, “Bill? Is everything okay?”

Rey soon heard footsteps coming down the hall and she quickly blindsided the woman with an elbow to the face. But she was quicker than her partner had been and raised her weapon to shoot at Rey. Thankfully, Rey still had the other guard’s gun and was first to pull the trigger. The woman fell and Rey frowned. She hated using deadly force, even when it was necessary. She then ran out to free the hostages.

 

*

 

Ben wasn’t as lucky in his ambush. He managed to disarm the first guard, knock him to the ground with a sweep of the leg, then get him down for the count with a blow to the head. However, the second had accessed the vault and grabbed a cylindrical container. Just as he was about to pursue, he heard Hux’s voice and had to turn back. He couldn’t risk being seen in the SD-6 office. He’d have to let them get away.

He clicked his walkie on and off repeatedly to get Rey’s attention. He didn’t want to speak first in case she had somehow found Snoke. “What happened? You okay?”

Using the walkie like morse code, he clicked out a response - ‘I’m fine. Hux got the item. Heading back.’

“Copy. Good luck,” she responded.

 

* * *

 

Once Rey had released the hostages, they found Snoke - bruised but no worse for the wear - in one of the interrogation rooms and rushed him to his office so he could stop the self destruct. In the end, everyone got home safely.

Finn had been released from the hospital and was going to be returning to work, so Rey had insisted he come over for dinner to celebrate. As it happened, Poe had a couple days in between flights so he was home as well. Rey offered to cook, but her beleaguered roommate was having none of it. He was a far superior cook, and she tended to burn things. At least he allowed her to pick out the wine.

She was browsing through the selection of reds, when a familiar presence came up beside her.

“Need help choosing?”

She smiled and barely turned her head, “What would you recommend for _chicharrones y carnitas_?” Ben raised his eyebrow so she added, “My roommate is an excellent cook.”

“Ah, the pilot.” At this, Rey gave him a look, to which he added, “It’s my job to know.”

“Right. Yeah, he’s a pilot. Anyway, if you’re not going to give me a wine suggestion, and you’re not going to tell me why you’re here…”

He reached up and brought down a bottle. “I’d go with the Pinot Noir. And I’m here because I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

She accepted the bottle. “Thank you. I’m fine. Were you in a lot of trouble?”

“Nah, not much. The director made me take off a couple days to think about how my ‘reckless decisions affect others,’ but it could’ve been worse.”

“Thank you for sticking your neck out for me. I know we didn’t prevent them for stealing whatever they took, but I wouldn’t have been able to save the other agents without you.”

“Yes, you would’ve. Rey, you’re the strongest person I’ve ever known. And I’ve known a lot of damn good agents.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat and grasped his hand briefly, letting it go before anyone else saw. “I mean it, Ben.”

“Me too,” he winked at her as he took a bottle of wine for himself and passed her on his way to the register. “Enjoy the wine!” She watched him leave and felt a pang of loneliness in her gut.

Back at her house, Poe complimented the choice of wine. “Usually I don’t know if I can trust your taste, but this one really brought out the flavor in the pork. Good job, Rey.” He gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder.

Finn agreed, but then notice his partner’s sullen visage. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Trying to perk herself up, Rey shook her head. “Nothing, I’m fine.”

Poe interjected, “Oh come on, I’ve noticed you’ve been moping since yesterday. Boy troubles?”

Finn arched his eyebrow, “ _Boy_ troubles, eh? Please tell me it’s not Mitaka.”

“What? No!” But rather than avoiding the question, she decided to talk about it. “It’s just this guy at the gym, you wouldn’t know him.”

“Oh does he have an eight-pack? Is he shredded?” Poe asked as he brought out the dishes to the kitchen.

“He is well built,” she said with a sigh. Not that she had seen Ben without his clothes on, but the way his shirts hugged his muscles just so, she could imagine. She had also touched his bicep once, and it was rock hard. “But that’s not the only thing I like about him. We usually talk as we use the treadmill. He’s brilliant, funny, sweet, with a bit of a dark side.”

“So what’s the problem, then? Ask him out!” Poe was always encouraging about these things.

Rey couldn’t think of a single reason why she couldn’t just ask Ben out - she could think of hundreds. But none of them were reasons she could tell either of them. Sometimes she really hated this life. “He has a girlfriend.”

“Then why the hell is he talking to you?” Finn asked, clearly ready to fight someone for her.

“It’s just talking. It’s not like he flirts with me or feels the same way. Besides, it’s not simple… she’s sick and he can’t just _leave_ her. He’d look like a terrible person.”

“Oh man, that’s a bummer. Well you know what I always say…”

“Fuck somebody else till I get over it?” Rey was familiar with Poe’s advice.

“Exactly! I’m right, aren’t I Finn?”

From the look on Finn’s face, Rey could tell he wasn’t sure if he should agree with that or not. “I don’t know man. Different strokes…”

Poe laughed loudly. “I’ll say.”

 

* * *

 

Rose was ecstatic to see Finn back at work. She gave him a lengthy hug until Snoke cleared his throat. Clearly, hugs were not professional. She straightened her shirt and mumbled her way back to her seat.

Snoke’s grating voice came through the video screen as he was recuperating from his injuries at home. “Hux and his associates only stole one thing from the vault, page forty-seven from the Rambaldi journal that Rey and Finn recovered. He is planning to sell it to the highest bidder at a silent auction tomorrow night in London. He has procured a number of priceless artifacts that he is planning to sell at this event and members of every intelligence agency in the world will likely be in attendance. As such, it’s a masquerade.”

“That’s where I come in,” Rose said, getting to her feet. “I’ve made masks for both of you, equipped with infrared and facial recognition. Of course you’ll be bidding on the page, but you’ll also need to find out where they’re storing it and steal it back before the night is over.”

Rey took her mask and turned it over in her hand. It was gold and crimson with red jewels arranged in an arc from either eye down to the cheek. There were artfully arranged gold and crimson feathers peaking out of the top right side. “It’s beautiful.”

“Why, thank you. And this is yours, Finn.” His was silver and charcoal with black interlocking circles lining the edges.

They would certainly be thieving in style.

 

*

 

“This is the fake page you’ll be exchanging the real document for.” Ben held the parchment aloft and Rey made to grab it, but he took it back. “Not now. I’ll be accompanying you to London… well, I’ll be outside in a van. We’ll make the switch once you’ve acquired the page. You’ll have to break away from Finn.”

“Okay. Is there a reason for this?”

“The higher ups don’t want us to let this slip out of our hands. Supposedly Hux also has the ampule of liquid that will make whatever is on that page visible. Honestly, I don’t know why this is important to the CIA; I think Rambaldi was a bit of a nut job.”

“Right? God, I don’t understand the fascination.”

“On the bright side, I’ll get to see you in your dress.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and Rey laughed. If they weren’t hidden in the back of a warehouse, this would almost feel normal.

 

**London:**

 

It was quite a dress. Bright crimson to match the mask, the dress hugged Rey’s body to mid hip, where it flared out to the floor. It also had a slit where the flare began, exposing her right leg and the strappy gold stilettos she had on underneath. Hidden on her inner thigh was a knife, but no one could tell from the outside. It was a halter up top, exposing her back and shoulders, the deep V making it look like she had considerably more in the cleavage department. She opted out of wearing a wig since she had the mask and instead had curled her hair into a classic updo. Rose had also given her matching earrings with her earpiece in place for contacting Finn. Her opposite ear held the one for contacting Ben. It was going to be a night to remember at least.

“You look gorgeous as always, my dear.” Finn said as she took his arm to go inside.

In her ear, Ben’s voice came through. “I’m here with you, Rey. Right outside, waiting for your signal.”

“Thanks, and you look dashing yourself.” It was so much easier to dress men. Finn had on a tux and bowtie, but he wore it well.

Once inside, they milled about with the rest of the party-goers. Rey’s infrared told her at least half the people here were packing heat, despite the security they all had to go through at the door. At least her knife hadn’t been discovered. She kept an eye on each item as it was displayed before the bidding could begin. The men bringing the items out to Hux were big and burly. They would not be easy to take down if it came to that.

Hux loved the glamour and attention. He cared little about what would go down after the auction. He lived for chaos… and money. He would make a killing tonight regardless. “Ladies and gentlemen, this next item is particularly rare and especially valuable so I’m hoping you’ll open the purse strings wide on this. For our connoisseurs of the mystical, we have a page from Milo Rambaldi’s journal, page forty-seven.” Some people in the crowd gasped. “As you know forty-seven was a sacred number for Rambaldi. This particular page is blank, but with the other item in the lot, we believe the page will reveal a hidden message to the buyer. Here we have an ampule of solution recovered from a crypt in Italy that is said to make the prophet’s words appear. Low bid starts at two hundred and fifty thousand, but we expect it to go for much higher.”

Once all the items were shown, people made their way to special screens along the sides of the room to place their bids. Winners would be announced at the end of the evening. In the meantime, there were drinks, food, and dancing to be enjoyed. Hux certainly knew how to throw a party. Rey was nursing a champagne to blend in, having already placed their bid on the lot. Now she waited for Finn to give her the all clear after finding out where the page was being kept. She was surprised by a tap on the shoulder.

Turning around, she discovered a man with red and black mask on, his ginger hair peeking out beneath it. _Hux_. “Would the lady care to dance?”

Wordlessly, Rey downed the contents of her glass and set it on a nearby waiter’s tray. She took Hux’s hand. “Armitage,” she said as he slid his arm around her waist and drew her close for a waltz.

“Agent Rey. Don’t you think it’s sort of poetic? That I would rob you after you robbed me? I hope you’re here only to bid, and not to settle the score.”

She drew her lips in a tight line before answering. “Of course. We’re all friends here.” She gave him a fake smile.

“Unless… you want to come work for me,” he whispered into her ear. “I could make it _very_ worth your while. I am a very rich man, and an equal opportunity employer.” His lecherous grin told her he might be offering more than just money.

“As tempting as that may seem, I’m afraid I have to decline.”

“Pity,” he droned, squeezing her waist harder than necessary before letting her go. She watched him fade into the crowd to mingle with another unfortunate soul.

Finn came over her comm, “I found the storage area. Gonna need backup.”

“Be right there,” she answered as she left the dance floor. Then on her line to Ben, she said, “Finn’s found the page. I’m going to retrieve it now. Be ready at the rendezvous point.”

The burly guards were standing watch outside a room that was definitely locked and most certainly bio-encrypted. This would not be easy. Rey wound around the corridors and came up on the other side of the room. She sauntered out in front the guards, pouting her lips. “Oh dear, could you gentlemen assist me? I do seem to be lost.”

The closest one approached her. “Miss, you’re not supposed to be down here.”

“I was just looking for the toilets. Do you happen to know where they are?” As she asked her question, he came within just enough reach for her to land a kick to his groin.

The other man, shouted, “Hey!” and made to intervene, but Finn grabbed him in a chokehold from behind. He put all his strength into his forearms as he pressed on the guard’s windpipe.

Rey had just dodged a left hook from her guard, swooping down and landing another kick to his midsection. These guys were big, but they were slow. She swiveled as he reeled and swept his legs out from under him. He landed with a thud, and she used her elbow to tip him over into unconsciousness. When she looked up, Finn had incapacitated his guard as well. “Nice,” she said.

Finn walked up to the scanner on the door. “Uh, Rey? I think we’re going to need a fingerprint.”

They tried, but the men were too heavy to lift and drag over to the door. Plus, they didn’t have time for the fuss. Rey let out a big breath and whispered to the guard, “I’m sorry.” Then, she reached in between her legs for her knife and sliced off his right thumb in one fluid motion.

Once inside, they couldn’t take the time to marvel at the various priceless artifacts. They needed to move quickly. Ironically, the Rambaldi page and ampule were lot 47. Rey grabbed the items and motioned to Finn. “You go back the way we came, and I’ll go the opposite way in case they’re following. I’ll meet you out front.”

They had done this so many times that he didn’t question her, he ran off in the direction she motioned and Rey went the other way. The mansion that the masquerade was being held in had many intersecting corridors. She was good with directions, but she almost ran smack into Ben. She stopped just short of hitting him and removed her mask, eager to get the annoying piece off. Her makeup underneath was beige and gold eyeshadow, with just a hint of red in the crease. She had black winged eyeliner and nude colored lips.

Ben took in the sight of her and forgot how to speak for a second. “Rey, you look stunning.”

She felt her cheeks warm at the compliment and noticed he was looking nice as well. He was wearing a suit as usual, but his crisp white shirt and black tie were just a little more dressy. “Thanks. You ready to make the switch?”

Right, they were there for business not pleasure. He tried to ignore the blood rushing south as he took in the swell of Rey’s cleavage and the slit in her dress exposing more of her tan thigh than he’d ever seen previously. _God, she’s gorgeous_. “Here,” he said handing her the cylinder with the fake page and ampule.

Then, he noticed Finn walking down the hallway to get to the exit. He hadn’t realized the other agent might have to walk this way when he picked the meeting place, and he suddenly felt stupid. All he had to do was look down this adjacent corridor, and Rey would be discovered. He couldn’t let that happen. “Shit,” he mumbled.

“What?” she whispered, noticing he had his finger over his lips.

Thinking of the only thing that would get them out of this mess, he steeled himself. “I’m sorry. This is not how I imagined doing this for the first time, but I don’t see another choice.” With that he pushed her against the wall, throwing his entire body against hers and crushed his lips to hers fiercely.

Rey was so taken aback by this, that she barely had time to register what was happening. Her shock quickly faded, and she kissed him back with fervor, the tension that had been building between them for months finally coming to a head. She threaded her fingers into his hair, relished the feeling of his hands spanning her bare back. She moaned when he dipped his tongue into her mouth, exploring, tasting. They broke apart all too soon, leaving her breathless.

“I think he’s gone. You better go, before he thinks you got held up.” How Ben managed to say this, she wasn’t sure. Rey had to shake her head to remind herself that this was a mission, and she _couldn’t_ just pull him into the nearest room to have her way with him.

“Okay,” she finally said. “See you back home.”

“See you,” he replied and watched her walk away, his heart still beating a rapid staccato. He ran a hand through his hair and walked back to the van with the biggest grin on his face. _Worth it_.

 

* * *

 

Back at the SD-6 office, Finn walked into Rose’s lab. They were still analyzing the page and ampule that they had brought back from London, but he had another burning question on his mind since he had woken up in the hospital.

“Hey Finn, what’s up?” Rose looked up from whatever invention she was currently tinkering with. She had a pair of welding goggles on, and Finn idly thought they looked cute.

“I just had a question. What was Rey’s callsign on the mission to Aconcagua?”

“Sure, let me think a sec. I believe it was Bluebird.” She typed a few keys into a nearby console. “Yup, Bluebird. Why?”

“No reason, just checking. Have we ever assigned her the callsign Scavenger?”

Rose crinkled her nose. “Nope. I’d definitely remember that one.”

“Thanks, Rose. You’re the best.” He walked out of the lab, wondering if he could truly trust his partner.

 

*

 

Rey awoke to her cell phone ringing. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the caller ID: Unknown. “Hello?”

“Rey,” it was Ben. “We need you to come in, it’s a bit of an emergency.”

She hopped out of bed, threw on some clothes, and headed down to the CIA field office. Upon arrival, she was ushered into a private meeting room with several people: a couple agents she recognized, Ben, and a short, older woman with an imposing air. They had never met before, but she assumed this was Director Organa. Her eyes were familiar for some reason.

“What is it? What’s the emergency?”

Agent Connix came forward. “We tested the blank page from Rambaldi’s journal with the ampule you recovered and discovered a prophecy about a woman.”

“Okay, but what does this have to do with-” Rey’s words were cut off as Connix held the page aloft in gloved hands. There, on this centuries old paper was a bunch of script and a drawing in the middle of a woman who looked exactly like Rey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we finally got a kiss from our agents! I know Sydney and Vaughn didn't get to actually kiss until SD-6 was taken down, but we don't have 5 seasons here so I had to speed things up a little somehow and the "oh no someone is going to see us so we better kiss instead" is one of my favorite tropes.
> 
> Kudos are lovely, but your comments make my day! <3


	7. The Prophecy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOWDY!
> 
> Well, after 8 months of leaving everyone hanging, I finally have a new chapter to share. It's been rough trying to get myself mentally back in this world, but I am determined to finish this fic and I have had the ending planned all along. It's just a matter of getting there.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's been reading and for your extreme patience. And if you're new, welcome! I promise it won't be another 8 months till the next chapter. XD

The car was idling on the pier. There was nowhere else she could go— they had her surrounded. Rey tugged on the horrendous wig she had on. Even with the pixie cut auburn hair and giant sunglasses, they had still managed to track her down. Even with changing cars 3 times and using the spare plates Ben had given her.

The black federal-issued SUVs and police cars surrounding her had their lights on, waiting. Just waiting for her to make a move. It was up to her. About 20 yards ahead lay the edge of the Pacific. She had been through worse scenarios. With one last glance to the rearview, Rey gunned the engine and drove off the edge of the pier, the beige sedan plunging into the ocean below.

She had to act quickly. She unbuckled her seat belt as she waited for the car to fill with water. Once upon a time, deep water had put her into a panic. But that was before she became an agent. Before fear could be compartmentalized. As the last few inches gave way to the depths, she took one last gulping breath and dove beneath to unroll the window, swimming out to freedom.

Outside the car, Rey noticed the bubbles all around her. Any sea life had surely been scared away from the giant hunk of metal that came crashing into their world. She blinked up at the surface, the sun a distant warped disc of light. It would take them several minutes to assume her death, several more to vacate the area. Carefully, she swam to the back tire and started to remove the cap over the air valve. Several stale gulps of air later, she knew the coast was clear and swam away.

 

**24 Hours Earlier:**

 

“I don’t understand…” Rey stood there gaping looking at her image on the ancient page. “You don’t actually think that’s me, right?”

The older woman stepped forward. “Nice to meet you, Rey. I’m Director Leia Organa. And right now, we actually don’t know what to think.”

Ben stepped to her side and placed a hand on her arm. “Connix please read the text for Rey.”

She nodded and began to read. “This woman here depicted will possess unseen marks, signs that she will be the one to bring forth my works: bind them with fury, a burning anger. Unless prevented, at vulgar cost, this woman will render the greatest power unto utter desolation. This woman, without pretense, will have had her effect, never having seen the beauty of my sky behind Mt. Subasio. Perhaps a single glance would have quelled her fire.”

Rey braced her palms on the table as she listened to the ominous words. “What the _fuck_ is that supposed to mean?”

“Agent—” Director Organa cautioned.

“No, I’m sorry—” she waved Ben’s comforting arm off. “You people don’t actually believe this Rambaldi bullshit, do you? I know Snoke is obsessed, but the man was just a genius inventor. He wasn’t some kind of prophet! Besides, my face is pretty common; I bet lots of women in history have looked just like me.”

Leia walked calmly to the head of the conference table and placed her hands on her hips. “Take a seat, agent.”

Rey looked at Ben, eyes beginning to water out of frustration. He subtly nodded, implying she shouldn’t be on the defense here. She sat down.

“Rambaldi has predicted, with great accuracy, a lot of world events.” Leia sighed. “I personally don’t put much stock in his more mystical writings, but until we have more to go on, we have to treat this as a viable threat.”

“So you’re just going to hold me here until you know? It’ll blow my cover.”

Ben piped in. “We’re working on that.”

“For all we know, this ‘render the greatest power unto utter desolation’ could be referring to some kind of super weapon. We can’t let something like that fall into the hands of SD-6 or the First Order.” Leia sat down.

“Of course not,” Rey conceded. She was stunned and more than a little unnerved seeing her face on the prophecy.

“Good. Now, the text refers to—”

She was cut off by someone entering a room, flanked by several other officials. “Thank you, Director, but we’ll be taking it from here.”

Leia’s glare was icy, but she remained mute, letting the men into the room. The leader, a man impeccably dressed in a tailored beige suit that accented his dark skin, came over to Rey and handed her a card. “Dr. Lando Calrissian, DSR.”

“DSR?” she asked, turning over the card.

“Department of Special Research,” Ben explained, his murderous gaze also directed to Dr. Calrissian.

Rey wondered if all the agencies had bad blood between them. “I don’t understand—”

“It’s a division of the NSA that investigates the paranormal, fringe science, conspiracies—Rambaldi is right up their alley.”

Dr. Calrissian winked at Ben. “Right you are, and we’ve been given jurisdiction over this case, so I’m afraid Agent Rey will be coming with us.”

“The hell she is!” Ben lunged forward, but the Director was suddenly in front of him, using all her weight as she pressed him back, her tiny hands on his chest.

“Let it go, Agent Solo,” she cautioned him. Then turning to Dr. Calrissian, she said, “This isn’t over, Lando.”

“Take it up with the National Director.”

Rey had no choice but to get up and let herself be led by Calrissian’s lackeys out of the room.

 

*

 

Ben was livid, stalking the length of the conference room as they waited. Being deep cover, some agents were only called in when it was absolutely necessary. His uncle burst into the room, looking rather perturbed.

“Leia, I came as soon as I got the message. Care to explain?”

Ben looked back and forth as his mother and uncle spoke. He hated that it seemed like he was related to everyone in this damn agency. Why did espionage have to be the family legacy?

After Leia explained the situation, Luke scratched at the scruff on his face while he pondered. “Lando’s the head of the DSR now? Never thought I’d see the day. Well, he can’t hold Rey forever or Snoke will get suspicious.”

Up until this point, Ben felt like they had both been ignoring him, which usually suited him just fine, but this was about Rey. “What are they going to do to her?”

Seeming to finally notice him, Luke turned. “Well, the prophecy says she’ll ‘possess unseen marks’ right? They’re probably going to DNA test her, among other things.”

“Nothing damaging, though…right?” He had years of practice compartmentalizing but when it came to Rey, everything felt urgent.

Both Luke and Leia looked at him with concern. They spoke at the same time, overlapping each other.

“Ben, no.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Still, he didn’t think he could shake the sinking feeling in his gut. He had to get Rey out of there. “Wait, the prophecy also said she would never have seen Mt. Subasio, right?”

The Director raised her eyebrow. “Yes… why?”

“Well, that’s it, isn’t it?”

Luke flexed his mechanical hand as he thought about it. “So you’re saying if we get Rey to Italy and she sees the beauty of the sky behind this sacred mountain that—”

“She can’t possibly the woman from the prophecy!” Ben finished for him.

“That could work, actually.”

Ben didn’t wait around to hear anything else before he took off out the door.

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t the first time she’d been strapped to a chair against her will, and she was absolutely certain it wouldn’t be her last. Rey smirked as Dr. Calrissian entered the slightly darkened room. She noticed he had nice hands. He probably hadn’t seen any real action in years, leaving his underlings to do all the heavy lifting and _persuasion_.

“Now, Rey. Nothing about this needs to be unpleasant. We just have to run some tests to determine if you are in fact the woman from Rambaldi’s prohpecy. DNA, fingerprints, blood type, the usual stuff.”

“Right, that’s why you had to strap me to this chair.”

He was too smiley for her taste. Like he once was a charming man, but it had gone slightly wrong. He held his palms aloft as he said, “Hey, I’m just doing my job.”

“And you’re keeping me from mine. What’s going to happen when I don’t show up at SD-6 and Snoke gets suspicious?”

“That’s not really my concern.”

“How about you make it your concern?” she bit back, venom in her voice.

“Mmm, I like that fire. Maybe you _are_ the Chosen One.”

She could only roll her eyes. “Weren’t you friends with Ben’s dad? Han Solo, right? You knew him from your military days.”

His eyes flashed with something like pain before he recovered, a mask of serenity. “We’re not here to talk about me. I’ll leave you boys to it.” And with that, he left the room.

 

*

 

He had a half-baked plan, but the complicit silence of the Director, which was almost as good as approval. Ben was poking through the gear and trying to figure out exactly what he’d need for a rescue mission—or whatever this mission was shaping up to be. He barely heard Wexley come into the room.

“Hey, so I uh—covered for you on that meeting about the Madagascar incident.”

“Oh, thanks. I actually forgot that was still happening.”

“I don't want your thanks. I want it to stop.”

“Look, Rey is my responsibility . . .”

“Ben, I'm not going to trivialize your relationship with her by calling it a crush—”

He stopped what he was doing and looked up. “A crush?”

Wexley continued, “But whatever it is, it's starting to affect me and if that sounds selfish to you, I was hoping to retire fully vested. I know you genuinely care for her. I do, too. But there is a line that we have been sworn not to cross. We're about a mile past that.”

Ben sighed. “I don't know how to be Rey’s handler without making it personal.”

“Figure out a way,” he ordered as he left. _  
_

_Fuck_.

Before he could fully process what Wexley had said, Luke burst into the room. “They’re transferring her.”

“What?”

“To a more secure facility. If we’re gonna make a move, it’s gotta be now. Grab your shit.”

He didn’t question, just followed his uncle out the door.

 

*

 

Rey groggily looked up to see Dr. Calrissian walk into the room again. “Hey kid, you don’t look so good.”

“You… drugged me?”

“A mild sedative. You were being—difficult.”

 _Mild, my ass_. She looked down at the track marks in her arm. “Get all the fluids you needed for your little tests?”

“Yeah, actually. We’ll know the results within 24 hours. However, we’re moving you to more a secure facility first. The boys will be in to escort you shortly.”

 _Shit_. What a day this was shaping up to be.

The “boys” came in not 15 minutes later, carefully undoing her restraints from where they clasped to the chair. She was bound at the wrists and ankles—they knew who they were dealing with. Still, she managed to wrangle free as they edged through the door and elbow the shorter brute in the face. That earned her a taser to the back.

When she awoke, they were moving. Her shackles had been carefully attached to the metal bench in the van. Because she had been knocked out, she had no way of knowing where they were. The road felt like it was curving and the altitude increasing, but—it wasn’t enough to get a read on her location. Not that she had a way of contacting anyone. She briefly thought about Ben and their kiss, the one she barely had time to process, let alone talk to him about.

He said it wasn’t how he imagined it would happen, which meant he _had_ imagined it—thought about it, like she had. She knew they couldn’t really be anything, not in this state, not until SD-6 was gone… but if he felt the same way she did—

A bump in the road brought her out of her reverie. She hated just waiting, feeling powerless. She took in her surroundings, looking for weaknesses in the structure of the van, any stray debris she could use as a weapon. Suddenly, the van swerved and Rey was thrown up against the side. It slowed then crashed into _something_ —low impact, not enough for serious damage but enough for her to figure out it wasn’t the driver just trying to miss an animal.

She braced herself to fight as she heard footsteps come around to unlock the van. The sunlight streamed in and she had to squint at the figure, who’s frame was taking up a good portion of the doorway.

“Rey.”

“Ben?!” She practically flung herself at him despite being shackled.

He was prepared, though, grabbing her by the waist and lowering her down safely to the ground. “Hi.”

“Hi.” They stared at each other for several charged seconds before he brandished a key.

“Let’s get you out of those.”

Rey rubbed her wrists as they sat in the back of the black SUV and sped away. Ben was sitting next to her, which left her to wonder for a moment who was driving.

“Good to see you, agent.”

“Luke!” She smiled slightly, in spite of herself. He had a hard exterior, but she knew Luke was one of the good guys.

“We figured out a way for you to disprove the prophecy.”

“Oh?” Rey asked, trying not to stare at his lips—those full lips that had been on her less than 2 days ago.

“Mt. Subasio.”

“So you think if I go to Italy and see Rambaldi’s sacred mountain—”

“Then you can’t possibly be the Chosen One.”

She nodded. “Yeah, okay. Makes sense. You think that will get the DSR off my case?”

Luke piped up from the driver’s seat. “It’s worth a shot, right?”

“Right.”

“Good luck,” Ben said as they pulled up to another vehicle. His hand was at her lower back as she exited.

 

* * *

 

**Now:**

Rey pulled herself out of the water at a well-hidden alcove and removed the soaked wig, tossing it on the ground. The sunlight warmed her slightly as she dripped. She had lost nearly an hour to this stupid manhunt. Silently, she berated herself for letting Ben and Luke help her escape. Maybe she should’ve just taken whatever the DSR had in store for her, than trying to prove some ancient prophecy wrong.

No, this was the best course of action. She shook her head slightly, as if trying to make the intrusive thoughts fly away. Sighing, she squeezed some more water out of her clothes and made her way to the airport.

 

**Mt. Subasio:**

It was windy and Rey wrapped her jacket tighter as she hiked up the mountainside. As the early morning light turned parts of the landscape pink and orange, she gazed upon the ancient town of Assisi. It really was quite beautiful, and she could see why it meant so much to Rambaldi.

A bird chirped nearby and she had to take a moment to laugh at her life. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d end up here—life as a spy was complicated and difficult—but it was also incredibly lonely. Her closest friend was Finn, and now she even had to lie to him.

This thing with Ben, if she thought about it too much, it made her chest ache. He was the only person she felt like she could rely on at the moment, and she wanted him—in every sense of the word. Every time they gained a victory over SD-6, she got another step closer to not only her goal of taking them down, but also her secret dream of being with him.

A smile graced her wind-chapped lips as she turned to face the sun. She shoved her walking stick into the ground. Her mission was complete: looks like she wasn’t the Chosen One, after all.

 

* * *

 

 

Ben sat in his office, staring at the wall. He thought about the conversation with Wexley and the implications—he had to get a better hold on himself before someone else noticed and replaced him as Rey’s handler. He had been trained to deal with a lot of things, but he didn’t think he could bear that.

Not knowing if she was safe on missions, not being able to see her for debriefs—unacceptable. He would just have to manage his emotions better. Except… he couldn’t stop thinking about the feeling of her lips on his, the way she had responded so enthusiastically to his efforts. The kiss had been a split-second idea, but now he wouldn’t trade it for the world. It seemed to indicate he wasn’t alone in his feelings, and he would keep working towards their common goal of destroying SD-6 with that little scrap of hope in the back of his mind.

He was jarred from his thoughts by the sound of the phone ringing. He waited as the secure line patched through the call from the sat phone. “Hello?”

“Mt. Subasio has been conquered.”

He smiled at the sound of Rey’s voice. “Glad to hear it.”

 

* * *

 

It felt weird to be back at the SD-6 office. But as Finn and Rose told her to “feel better,” she realized no one had wondered where she was. While she was being held up by the DSR, everyone had assumed she had the flu.

Luke had taken over the briefing, and Rey wondered where Snoke was. As Rose detailed a music box designed by Rambaldi that they would be looking for, she bit down the urge to scream. If she never heard that name again, it would be too soon.

She shivered a little when she learned that she and Finn were headed to Siberia to recover this music box. “Everything okay?” she mouthed to her partner when she noticed him watching her curiously.

Finn nodded and turned his attention back to Rose, but Rey was unnerved. It was like he had been studying her.

She hurried home to find Poe was away again as well, and had barely slipped off her shoes before the phone rang. She nearly tripped in an effort to get to the phone quicker, knowing the voice on the other end would ask for Joey’s Pizza.

It was another warehouse that she met Ben in to find out her counter-mission. She had to resist the urge to run up and hug him after how he helped her escape custody and get to Italy. Then she noticed the normal sparkle was gone from his eyes as he greeted her. His body language was stiff and rigid, like he was trying to close himself off.

 _What happened?_ she wondered. Rey hoped he hadn’t gotten into any serious trouble on her account. “What’s wrong?”

Ben’s mouth formed a thin line for a moment. “Rey, the CIA wants you to complete this mission for SD-6 as normal, but I also needed to inform you: Snoke’s gone missing.”

_“What?!”_

“While you were off scaling Mt. Subasio, he just dropped off the grid completely. There’s been no sign of him anywhere. The First Order is sending a replacement to SD-6. Whoever it is will be there upon your return.”

“So what does this mean, exactly?”

“Well, it doesn’t change anything. The plan remains the same—we just don’t know if this makes it harder or easier. And Snoke is a wildcard, now. There’s no telling what he’ll do if he’s gone rogue.”

_Great, just great._


End file.
